Reaper Like Me
by Mysterious-Vixen
Summary: What the-? Stabbed, shot, broken bones, bloodloss, hypothermia and drowning." said the amused blonde behind the counter "What hasn't he done?" Sakura shrugged and replied "I'm surprised nothing tried to eat him." SasuSaku NaruHina and many more!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Naruto except the original characters to this story.**

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**Reaper Like Me**

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"One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching."  
- Anonymous

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**Chapter one: Life's a bitch and then you die.**

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It was raining that night, thunder crackling across the sky after the lightning flashed dangerously. A man in thick dark clothing was running faster than the eye could see through the streets of Suna, his eyes darting around wildly. Any movement made from the corner of his eyes caused the man to jerk and speed up. His mouth was dry and raw as the drumming of his heart pounded up to his throat. He never knew so much fear in his life.

He was in so much pain, his body screaming in agony as he continued to push it; continued to run for his life. He pushed on, through crowds of people till his eyes darted to the rooftop. He almost froze in fear when he saw the flash of dark figure leaping from one side of a building to another in an inhumane leap. His pulse quickened and he tried to take another route, trying to lose the thing that was seeking to catch him.

It would not matter where he was, be it an open area, a crowded scene or a panic room, it had got rid of his option to go home quite quickly. The thing that wanted him was never going to give up until it had him within its grasp. He trembled at the thought. He had been running for now hours, no breaks or breathers to even rest. This thing certainly did not rest.

So he continued to run, through the rain, the ear-splitting thunder and menacing lighting. He couldn't stop. He felt like the rabbit being pursued by the ravenous dog with the saliva dripping from its deadly jaws. He didn't know he was running across a bridge until he was half way over it, that was how frightened he was. But it did not matter.

A pain unlike any other tore through his body when he collided with the floor. His lip had split and bruises formed upon impact, yet it could not compare to the pain of the severed flesh from his back. He wanted to scream so badly but his raw throat would not comply with his wishes. He tried to get up and escape but the weight of whatever was above him held him down. It didn't stop him from struggling.

"Now, now, don't try and fight me. It'll only be more painful" a smooth voice said. Nothing with in that voice had given away who it was or that they were even remotely tired. The man, however, would not give into its demands and tried to move again, only find his face being slammed down into the wet concrete. "Naughty little bugger, aren't you?" the voice chuckled.

"They…will come…after…you." The man managed to gasp.

The man felt the thing shift its weight as it leaned down to his ear, his skin almost crawled off his flesh when he felt its breath against his neck. He wanted to lash out at the thing above him but he knew it was useless, especially when the thing spoke right against his ear.

"I'm _counting_ on it."

The world turned white and there was nothing more.

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When a lone pink haired woman woke that morning she didn't think she was going to have a very troubling day. She threw the covers off her and swung her feet over to the side of her bed before heading to her mirror. She wanted to cringe at the sight of her nest like hair and almost shivered at the thought of brushing it through.

_**Good lord, were you fighting in your sleep again?**_

"Oh be quiet" she muttered.

_**Ooooh sour cotton candy in morning! I **__**love**__** that! You think it'll be a hit at work?**_

"I said 'be quiet', you morning freak" she growled irritably.

_**What are you going to do Bubblegum? It's not like I can go anywhere.**_

She ignored it, knowing it never allowed her to have the last word. It was what Sakura Haruno got every morning since she could remember. The thing inside her was her opposite in everyway and preferred it at that. After all, it hated the fact that she was the one in control of the body and not it. It liked to call itself Hakumei. Sakura preferred to call it Naimenteki Oni on very bad days for obvious reasons. Of course it never liked to be ignored or shut up.

_**C'mon Bubblegum, work is awaiting and I can't wait to see what's in store.**_

"I prefer having conversations with Karin than hear you speak another word." Sakura said.

_**Oh that **__**hurt**__** Bubblegum**_

Sakura could feel Hakumei giving her a mocking pout inside her mind.

"Get gone." She said before she started to brush her hair. She could hear the thing inside her mutter a few chosen curse words before it went silent, something Sakura knew wouldn't last long.

When she finally sorted the mess she called hair she washed, put some light make up on and dressed in her uniform for work; black trousers, black boots, black blouse and pink sunglasses. Yes, that was her uniform and it included a long black coat, the pink sunglasses were just her added touch as sometimes she worked outside. She looked like she was going to funeral or something if it weren't for those sunglasses.

Once the ensemble was completed she headed off down town to a large skyscraper after grabbing a few krispy kreame doughnuts and coffee for breakfast along the way. She found that no matter what she ate she never gained a pound or even loose a pound whenever or whatever she chosen to eat. She was on her fifth doughnut when she entered the foyer of the building.

"You're late." A man behind the counter said as he was flicking through his newspaper.

"You're ugly" Sakura replied and grinned when the man looked up from his desk giving her a horrible look. He then proceeded to give her the finger before he returned to his newspaper. She couldn't care less, she did not like him and he certainly did not like her. Most of the employees did not like her and did not even pretend to nor did she. But for the sake of staying employed they did not hassle her and it was likewise with her.

When she reached the elevator she pressed the button on the side and the doors opened for her to step in immediately. She found another male employee in a white business suite and white hat standing while holding a black briefcase next to her when she entered the elevator. The air was uncomfortably hot but she tried to ignore it as best she could when she pressed the button to the top floor, knowing exactly where it just came from.

"Miss Haruno, your Father's been meaning to have a word with you." The man said.

Sakura frowned in annoyance. "Tell him I'm not interested."

"Don't you want to know what he wants to say to you?"

The pinkette looked at the man, her eyes darkening slightly. Yes, most of the employees did not like her for a very good reason and some employees wanted her to be on 'their' side in the job.

"I know what he'll say to me and quite frankly I couldn't give a flying monkey."

"It maybe different this time." The man said softly, as he leaned a little closer towards her.

To an observer, you couldn't help but notice the man suddenly becoming attractive and more alluring than it was thought possible. Sakura, however, looked at the man more annoyed that he was getting closer before her eyes flashed in anger as she gritted her teeth.

"So he sends an incubus. Lovely." Sakura growled then gestures to the space between them. "You mind? Your breath stinks."

The man looked surprised before distancing himself away from her. "You are an odd creature."

"You'll be a _dead_ creature if you try that trick on me again." Sakura hissed. The elevator stopped at the top floor that moment before the doors opened to an endless bright white room. Employees from different backgrounds were working very hard behind their desks as Sakura briskly walked down the aisle, heading towards one counter in particular.

She could feel people's eyes on her as she strolled through the room, she could definetely sense the hostility and it wasn't even nine o'clock yet. However when she reached the counter she was heading for she was greeted with a smile by her oldest and dearest friend.

"Hey Ino-pig" Sakura grinned.

"Forehead you're late." Ino grinned back.

Ino was a 5ft 8 blonde and blue-eyed bombshell that loved the colour lilac and blue with yellow. She was also the loudest girl in the entire building and wasn't afraid of being outcast because she was friends with Sakura.

"Can't help it, I'm not a morning person." Sakura said with a shrug.

"Well your shift doesn't start till 8:45 today so you're lucky but you have to be here before 8. You know that." Ino sighed as she fished around beneath the counter in her filing draws. She straightened up in an instant and looked at her long time friend "Have you been smoking?"

"No, another employee of my father's that's been chatting to me in the elevator." Sakura said.

"Ah, we may need to get Tsunade-sama on this. She can't lose you as an employee here." Ino said.

"Nice to know I'm loved" Sakura dryly said.

Ino leaned over the counter looking a bit sombre at her friend. "You know you are loved, especially by me, but I'm serious about this. Some of the staff members are missing."

"Really? You don't think they may have moved on or something?"

"Not in this line of work, no one moves on here."

Sakura grunted and rubbed her forehead.

"What does your 'roommate' think" Ino quietly asked with a knowing look.

_**Would say 'I think maybe you should try to be a little less nosy' and such but that would only just kill you. **_

Sakura wanted to roll her eyes but controlled herself, she knew that if Hakumei knew anything she wouldn't be able to hide it from her or wouldn't be able to stop herself from bragging about what she knows. Afterall, the creature inside her head was prideful and would like to rub it in whenever it got the chance to. "She doesn't know" Sakura said.

"Hmm, is that the truth or is she hiding something?" Ino asked.

_**Stop being so damn irritating, I couldn't care less about the people here but I've no clue.**_

"She's telling the truth." Sakura sighed.

"Damn." Ino grunted before she pulled out a piece of paper from the filing cabinet and gave it to Sakura. While the pinkette was looking over the list the blonde began to talk again. "This is getting frustrating, no one upstairs or downstairs knows anything or willing to share anything. It's all hush-hush and Tsunade-sama is very worried."

"Trust me, the second I learn anything I will tell you after I tell Tsunade-sama" Sakura said.

"Before you go, you have to contact me every hour now." Ino said as she pulled a phone out from one the draws "If you don't then Tsunade-sama will have your ass on a platter."

Sakura glanced up from her list and at her friend "Ino, just who exactly is supposed to be missing?"

"Gigi, Chaun, Myoko, Zuko, Taruke and now Fortaro"

Sakura thought for a moment and shook her head. "Whoever it is seems to be going for staffs here that are 'wholesome'." Ino frowned at the term but kept quiet when her friend continued. "You work behind the counter anyway."

"You could be targeted too as you're out on the field." Ino pointed out.

Sakura gave Ino a meaningful look "You forget who my parents are."

"Yeah like that would matter" Ino muttered, forgetful that Sakura could hear her perfectly well.

Sakura sighed at her friend before thinking of something that would be better for the both of them. "My shift ends around three today, why don't we go shopping afterwards?" She almost regretted saying it when she saw Ino's eyes sparkle. When they decided where they wanted to meet and what place they wanted to visit first Sakura waved her friend goodbye and began her shift for the day.

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Life was good for Sasuke Uchiha. He was handsome. He owned a multimillionaire company. He had an endless supply of female bed partners. Life was _very_ good for Sasuke Uchiha but tonight he was celebrating his brother's engagement party.

Their parents had hired an ocean liner for his brother to celebrate this engagement. Sasuke really couldn't give a fuck though, he wanted to drink stupidly and get the hell away from here. He watched and listened as his father gave a speech for his brother, he gritted his teeth in irritation. He loved and hated his brother. His brother had always been good to him but as far as being in someone's shadow Itachi was the dark side of the moon to him. Anything he did his brother could do ten times better. So when the Uchiha cooperation was handed down to Itachi solely, Sasuke decided to create his own company with startling success. But did dear Dad or even Mum say anything? Nope.

Yep, drinking one self stupidly seemed the best plausible plan he ever thought of.

He raised his glass when his father finished and downed the champagne in one go before slipping away from the crowed. His mother had insisted he should make a speech for his brother. How could he, when he couldn't even fathom why his brother would want to settle down so quickly. Yes he was brought up to respect women but who would have one when many came banging at your door? None of his friends did, they and he were looking forward to a lifetime of being bachelors.

When the cool air hit his face as he left the room to go on deck, he began to contemplate of what he would do next. Nothing really much sprang to his mind other than to stay the hell away from the party. He really had no one to talk to and his friends were not invited as his mother felt it would lead to many problems, he couldn't blame her. The people he socialised were notoriously known to be playboys; he was mild compared to them as he preferred to keep his affairs private.

_Speaking of affairs…_

His nose almost flared at the strong perfume that whiffed its way to him. It wasn't cheap nor did he like the smell, something he found irritating with women wearing the stuff. The rocking of the liner did not help either, but a distraction was a distraction.

"Good evening Sasuke." Purred a female voice.

His eyes flicked over to the woman, a beautiful blonde with brilliant blue eyes and black skin tight dress, an old bed partner of his.

"Clarice" Sasuke acknowledged.

Happy that she held his attention she became bolder as she placed a hand on his shoulder and began to rub it leisurely.

"I noticed you left the party so soon." She said softly.

"Hn."

"I can understand that, gets too crowded and all."

Her hand trailed down his shoulder to his back and began caress just above his buttocks, trying to tempt him. He then shifts away from her, annoyed that she would pull that move on him. He was not stupid as she was an old bed partner for a very good reason.

"I think you should leave me be, Clarice" Sasuke warned.

"It never stopped you before" She cooed.

"You weren't married _before_."

Yes, he respected women but he also respected another man's wife. The only time he'd ever do that was if it was an enemy's wife and make sure she would be calling his name out whenever she did have sex again. Besides, why go for another man's wife when there were plenty of very willing women out there for him to have. Yet Clarice was undeterred, she moved closer to him with a seductive look on her face.

"C'mon Sasuke, I know you. You want a little fun and you know how much fun we would have whenever we got together."

The thought of what they used to get up to sent blood usually resided in his brain southwards. That coupled with the champagne in his system almost made Sasuke grin at the thought. Oh he definitely remembered all the things they used to get up to. Seeing that his eyes seemed to go into those bedroom eyes, Clarice took her chance and kissed him. Her kisses were the same hot, wet and fiery like he remembered. However, even if he enjoyed it and responded to it he knew he would be in a shit load of trouble if they got caught so close to the party.

But the next thing Sasuke knew was a sharp pain in his back. He tore away from the blonde and saw her husband holding a bloody cake slicer. His brother did say to him constantly his man-whore days would catch up with him.

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It was near the end of Sakura's shift as she observed a handsome man running across the deck of an ocean liner, trying to get away from the husband that was trying to kill him. She watched tiredly, checking her wristwatch every so often. She could hear the frustrations of the husband trying to catch his target; the one running at an incredible pace despite being stabbed. She had to admit the victim was very good, setting off the alarm, throwing objects in the way of the husband. But eventually he would die and that's where she comes in.

Oh she doesn't finish the job or save him. She was here to collect his soul, the last one for the day. It was her job.

"Hurry up; I want to go shopping later." She muttered.

No one could see Sakura, as the mad husband and victim continued their cat and mouse game. Sighing she checked her wristwatch again and then pulled out her list, most of which had been crossed out till this one she was waiting for. She didn't like this job, most of the time it required patience and unfortunately hers were running thin at the moment. Muttering a few curse words she then appeared next to victim.

He was back peddling away from his attacker until his back hit the railing from the stern of the ship. He was exhausted and he would have kept on running if he wasn't trapped. A red scythe decorated in black and pink cherry blossoms appeared in Sakura's hand from a pile of red and black smoke. She twirls it around, waiting for the mad husband to take his aim. When he cocked his gun she raised her scythe up, ready to slam it into the victim. There was a sudden shout when the mad husband pulled the trigger; the bullet soared into shoulder instead of chest where he was aiming. The impact sent the victim overboard and the rosette girl sighed angrily.

"Thank you sooooooooo much in making my job easier." The girl sarcastically grunted unheard to the mad husband as he ran off.

She jumped over railing, following the victim to the watery depths. The pinkette found him easily, she always does with every assignment, and was incredibly surprised that he survived the two hundred metre drop and missed the propellers. She was stunned that he managed to also swim to the surface and started to shout for help.

"Damn, this guy is really stubborn." Sakura sighed.

She was standing on the water now, she knew the rules and she knew she couldn't act until the point of death. The man, this victim, just didn't want to quit life just yet. She glanced at her list again to check if she got the right person and then checked her wristwatch again. She then looked over to the ship that was sailing away as the man next to her was hopelessly trying to get someone's attention on board.

"Great, now I have to either wait for hypovolaemia or hypothermia to set in." She muttered.

So she waited, standing upon ocean as it rose and fell beneath her feet, keeping close to the man who seemed to never want to leave the living. As she waited she took her time to admire his facial features. Raven coloured hair, warm onyx eyes, cupid lips, soft aristocratic nose yet sharp striking features that would probably look like he was ethereal. It was a pity he would be dying young and so…beautiful. For a moment she froze in her place, this man was now staring right back at her.

_**Good lord, am I seeing things?**_

_You're seeing what I'm seeing._

_**True, so how come he's seeing us?**_

_Shouldn't you know that?_

_**I may know many things but this is new.**_

_Maybe his eyes are just looking our way._

"Am I…dying?" the man gasped.

_**Want to try that again?**_

Sakura was stunned, she wasn't too sure if it was the hypothermia or that he really was seeing her but she decided to humour herself and him.

"Afraid so" She said.

"I…I…don't…want…want to…die." He managed to say.

She was still for a moment and checked her wristwatch again. No it wasn't his time just yet. This almost scared the hell out of her; it wasn't in the job description for the living to stare back at a reaper. She was astonished that this was a first. No one was able to see her until they died when she was on the job. Not even those annoying psychics could. This was truly a first her account and probably the first in the job's history as Hakumei didn't know either.

"Nobody does, it's a process all mortals go through." Sakura said gently.

"It's…not…not…nice."

"No it's not."

"So…c-cold"

"I know."

Sakura smiled gently at him.

"Never t-thought…I'd…d-die…this way."

"What? Being caught by an angry husband who then proceeded to try and kill you? I admit this has been a very funny thing for me. You were stabbed, shot, fallen off an ocean liner that you broke a few bones from the impact, missed the propellers and now you've got hypothermia and suffering from hypovolaemia. You're also potentially going to drown" She said as she began to twirl her scythe again. "What exactly is going to kill you is beyond me."

She heard him chuckle weakly.

"I…w…wished…"

"Hmm?"

"…th-that…I…I…w…"

She watched as his struggles became less and less as his eyes seemed to have rolled at the back of their sockets. She felt for the first time some sympathy for a dying mortal. In all her life she knew death was her way of relieving the pain for these mortals but now faced with one she was sympathising with was very new to her.

"…was…wasn't at…at…the…t-the…"

"…"

"party…g-gue-ss…I…I…got…it…n…now"

"Well, it is true what they say. Life's a bitch and then you die."

He chuckled weakly again but this time it was almost breathless, almost…lifeless. All he had suffered through was basically at its final curtain. It was time.

Sakura smiled grimly before she looked back at her watch; double checking for the last time for the day. She then raised her scythe up, grasping the bottom as the blade was held up high above her head. She watched the moment his head went beneath the water to never return and brought the scythe down through the water upon him.

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**Hypovolaemia**** is severe blood loss if anyone is wondering.**

**Before everyone yells at me I haven't forgotten my other stories, I just need to get this one out of my head for the moment. In fact I have a few chapters already half way finished, so please no fretting.**

**Right you guys know the drill, leave a review if you like the story to continue and I'll write some more chapters. Please note I am at Uni so I may or may not be able to update as quick as I could. **

**Chow!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Poor management.**

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"**I'm on my way to what I want from this world  
And years from now you'll make it to the next world  
And everything that you receive up yonder  
Is what you gave to me the day I wandered"**

_~The Proclaimers_

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Tsunade Senju, aka the Big Cheese, was reluctantly reading a few report scrolls when there was a knock on the door. She was a rambunctious blonde woman that looked like she was in her late twenties but held the wisdom of all time in her golden brown eyes. She glanced up, annoyed at being disturbed for the fifth time that day before she waved her hand. As if by magic the door opened by itself to reveal a man with silver hair and an orange book covering most of his face as he read.

"Kakashi, is there a reason you are reading that human filth?" Tsunade growled, very well aware of what lay within those ungodly pages.

The man called Kakashi removed the book away from his ridiculously handsome face and smirked as he walked into her office with an air of overconfidence one had to wonder where he got such a thing. He was man that said too few words, his personal life was secretive, was an excellent reaper of the highest calibre despite being late to meetings and all that really messed it up in Tsunade's eyes was his stash of erotic novels.

"I find it's entertaining." Kakashi said.

She rolled her eyes of what felt like the umpteenth time about them. She then sighed in annoyance, knowing this was one habit Kakashi was never going to give up and if it entertained him seeing people annoyed over these very things the happier he was about them. He was kind of twisted that way.

"Was there anything worth finding while you were there during your shift?" Tsunade grunted looking serious.

"Nothing, it's as if he's disappeared." Kakashi said.

The blonde woman pushed herself back into her chair, her thoughts scattered at all the possibilities of what could be happening but it all led to one conclusion. "This is not good." Tsunade said, her eyes were fixed at on the draw where she usually kept her 'emergency' sake and right about now she felt a bit thirsty. "Six of my best staff members are missing for more than four days now and I've had no word from any of them." she then gazed back at Kakashi. "Shizune always double checks everything here."

"Where is she now?" Kakashi asked, having not seen her at her desk outside Tsunade's office.

"She's interviewing a Sheriff from downstairs at the moment. Well Ibiki is, she's just observing." Tsunade said.

"Pulling out the Big Guns huh?" Kakashi said.

"I do not bullshit about when it comes to my staff around here. You fuck with them you fuck with me" the boss of Limbo growled, feeling more frustrated than ever. "Get back to your shift, and return to me if you find anything."

"Yes Tsunade-sama."

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When Sasuke came too he was standing in room of endless white, blinding him till the world slowly became focused. He realised he was no longer in the middle of the ocean, the lack of bobbing up and down was a dead give away, but in a place that had no barriers and was just completely white. As his sight rapidly focused now, he could see that this endless white space all around him started to change into an endless room of what appeared to be an office with different queues with a till in front of them. The Lines consisted to be pairs of people that had one side with all sorts of individuals yet the other side of the pairing were those that were wearing that the same black clothing the woman who had 'reaped' his soul. Upon remembering her he eyed the area, slightly confused at all this, until he saw the rosette woman. It appeared that she had never left his side while he was dying and for the first time in a long time he was grateful for that. She was checking the blade of her scythe, frowning a little as if there was a chip but he could not see one.

"I…I take it I died." He managed to say.

"Yep." She said, despite being a little preoccupied that moment.

She looked satisfied when she grinned at the blade and to his surprise it disappeared with a black and red mist of smoke. Then she turned to face him, her features relaxed and smiling gently. Sasuke was taken aback at how lovely this being was. Her skin was fair yet had a soft glow to it, a cute nose, a rosy, full and slightly pouty lips but it was those almond shaped eyes with forest green irises that caught him. Now that he could properly observe her without trying to stay above the water he could see that those eyes had an electric green mixed and varied in them that made them almost inhuman yet soulful. He couldn't believe someone as beautiful as her would have collected his soul, or at least it would be the coined term. Despite appreciating her looks he knew he had more pressing matters.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"Between Life and the Afterlife: Limbo" she said.

"Ah."

"My name's Sakura."

"Sasuke."

"That I already knew." She smiled and showed him the reaping list; his full name was in black gothic capital bold letters with a line through it. "I kind of expected you to die a little earlier but you sort of surprised me."

"Is it wrong for me to cling to life?"

She shrugged and stuffed the list into her back pocket. "Not many fighters when it comes to those stuck in the middle of the ocean. They give up after seeing their boat gone. You, however, never lost hope."

"I thought you were going to rescue me at first, till I actually saw you were standing on the water and not some lifeboat."

"Sorry to disappoint."

She chuckled good naturedly at him and crossed her arms to relax.

"What will…will they find my body?" He asked, but he had a feeling he knew the answer.

"Highly unlikely, it's fish food now." She said and sighed "C'mon we have to get you to a Sorter."

"A Sorter?"

"Yeah, they sort out where you go, the Sorters used to weigh souls but now they just look through your life records instead."

"My life record…?"

"Yeah, so they know whether you are worthy to go to paradise or not."

Sasuke frowned, looking very worried now. He did not like the thought of the 'or not' part at all.

"Follow me" She said.

He walked with her; he couldn't stop himself even if he tried. When a soul looses their body they also loose a part of there 'free will' too. Unless they went to paradise they'd have it returned of course. As he followed her while she tried to find a shorter queue he couldn't help but notice a similarity Limbo had with something on Earth.

"Am I in a post office or something?"

Sakura snorted, trying to contain her laughter. She never thought Limbo was post office but now that he mentioned it Limbo did have the fundamentals of one. Reapers were those who collected the souls like a postman or postwoman would collect posts or small parcels from a post-box. Then souls would be sorted out by a Sorter who'd make sure the soul goes to the right place with the deliverer which happened to be demon or angel.

"I guess you can say that." Sakura grinned.

There was a moment of silence as they walked before Sasuke decided to say something that had been bugging him in his last moments of life. "You're an Angel of Death, aren't you?"

Sakura almost tripped on her own feet but quickly recovered before he even noticed, she glanced over to him with a tired look for a moment.

"Close but no, I'm categorised as a Reaper. Reapers are not angels, they're more like humans but stronger than a human by far. They are immortal to everything except being blown-up into little pieces and are invisible while they are on duty, just so you guys don't get scared and we can get on with our job. As you already guessed we gather souls but there are other professions we sometimes do."

"Such as?"

"Uh-uh, that's classified"

"Hn."

"Aren't you worried about your family?"

Another moment of silence fell between them and Sakura help but notice how withdrawn his posture had suddenly become. She knew she shouldn't be asking these questions but answering, he had died and most of the time the dead wouldn't stop asking questions about this place, some were still shocked that they died in the first place. Yet, this was something new to her, to find a human that saw through her reaper guise and she was curious about him.

"Something the matter?" She asked.

"…Hn."

"You can tell me, it's not like I'm going tell anyone you know about your family."

"Ah."

"Is it that bad?"

"…I don't know what you would rate as bad." Sasuke said before he even realised it and couldn't stop himself from continuing. "My parents hardly know I exist and my brother just seems to always take the lime light. I love my brother and I know he loves me, but its hard be a 'somebody' when you're next to him and he's like a god in their eyes."

"Hmm, I understand, well a little bit anyway." She patted his shoulder gently to which he was a little shock he could feel it. She smiled at his reaction and explained "You're solid in Limbo. It's only on Earth when you're not."

"This place is weird."

"Well, wouldn't you know? A common reaction you've just displayed."

"…"

"You are a very unique soul I've collected so far, quite a fighter and constantly tried to defy death about five times."

"Yeah, I'm a hoot" he dryly said.

Sakura smirked at him as they reached a free counter. There was a pale blonde woman with funny looking glasses gazing at her screen behind the counter till Sakura grabbed her attention by coughing. She looked up from her screen and became nervous at the pinkette as Sasuke watched and waited in silence.

"Oh no." she said at the sight of Sakura then flushed in embarrassment, Sakura gathered she never meant to say that out loud when she next spoke "I mean, g-good afternoon. N-name please H-Haruno-san?"

"Sasuke Uchiha."

The blonde began to type on her keyboard at unbelievable fast speed that it looked like a blur.

"T-time of death?"

"Forty-five minutes past two"

"Ah, he's h-h-here" The blonde frowned at the time of death and the supposed death on the screen then looked at Sakura, all of her fears about the pinkette left her the moment she checked the times. The pale blonde was a girl that stuck by rules like a dog gnawing on its favourite bone. "Little late isn't he?"

"He was a Straggler."

"Still, rules state that…"

"Shiho, please don't talk about the rules to me and just sort him out already" Sakura grunted, feeling a bit too much like her old sensei who was a little too relaxed about rules to be even considered legal.

"Fine fine." The blonde muttered.

The Sorter calmed as she started to read the entire record at lightning speed, a thing that most beings in Limbo could do but ultimately Sorters can do it best. They were beings that were known for that skill along with one other: pure decisive logic. If there was a fire and there were five strangers on one side of the building while an innocent baby is trapped on the other side and there was only enough time to do one rescue on one side of the building: they'd pick the Five Strangers without hesitation. Simply on the reason that the Five Strangers would remember the incident and try to live there lives to the fullest, maybe even become better people, but the baby would not remember and thus could turn into another society's problem. They were not exactly the populist beings in Limbo but they were the best in using that cold logic to 'sort' out the souls. It could be said that nothing would surprise a Sorter, they had seen and read everything to not be, but that was until Shiho came across a piece of information that made her stop reading.

"What the-? Stabbed, shot, broken bones, bloodloss, hypothermia and drowning." said the amused blonde behind the counter then glanced at Sasuke with an almost disbelief look. "What hasn't he done?"

Sakura shrugged and replied "I'm surprised nothing tried to eat him."

"I'll say." Shiho grunted. "He's so cute, too bad though he's been a naughty little boy." She pressed a red button. "Off to Purgatory."

"Excuse me?" Sasuke said, a little bewildered.

The blonde leaned over the desk as if to clarify what she was saying "You're going to Hell."

"Wh-what? Why?" Sasuke said, stunned.

Shiho looked at her screen to look at the summary of his life and raised one eyebrow in bored contempt. "Well, being a man-whore doesn't give you any points in paradise. Nor does cheating, lying and threatening to get ones way." Shiho said and looked at him again adjusting her weird glasses "You are not going to the worst part but it still won't be pretty."

"Granted I slept with a lot of women but all those other things were when I was a stupid teenager." Sasuke shouted.

"Who was well off despite the circumstances."

"Well, well, he's pretty." A voice cooed.

Sakura was caught off-guard; after all she was watching a soul arguing with a Sorter something she had never seen before either. She felt her entire insides cringe at the familiar voice that it even made Hakumei flinch for a moment. This day was getting more troublesome by the minute.

_**Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!**_

Sakura and co turned to see a gorgeous redhead woman with blood-red eyes and seductive body that would thrill any man's dreams. Except Sasuke when he noticed the two small black horns on both side of her forehead, the black and red scaly fork tail swaying about and the black trident in her hand. His whole ethereal body twitched in a respond to the memory of the flight or fight feeling that adrenaline would give. It was an instinct to keep the hell away from this woman whether he knew it or not.

But it was only a moment that she gazed at him, devouring every detail, when she then looked at the pinkette. Her playful face disappeared and turned almost into a feral smirk.

"Sakura, long time no see. You haven't changed one bit." The redhead said.

"Karin." Sakura grunted.

"Still a reaper?" Karin asked.

"Yes and I like my job very much." Sakura hissed.

Karin grinned like a wolf about to kill the lamb. "Pity, you could be a very good helper downstairs. My job's perfect." Her eyes then glided over to Sasuke's form. "Very perfect."

He did not like the predatory look in Karin's eyes, not one bit at all. Sasuke then looked at Sakura pleadingly.

"You've got to save me from her." He whispered.

"Say what?" Sakura said, surprised yet again as most souls would reside to fact that when they were in this situation they wouldn't fight and just went with it.

"She's going to hurt me."

Sakura blinked and looked at him as if he said the dumbest thing in the world, which pretty much was.

"Yeah, that's what they do in purgatory."

"All because I did stupid stuff back when I was a teen?"

Sakura sighed and looked at the blonde behind the desk. "What exactly did the womaniser do to earn his place downstairs?"

Shiho rolled her eyes and turned the screen to face her. Sasuke tried to read what the account said but it was in such an old complex language he didn't have the faintest idea. But judging at the look Sakura was sporting he knew he would probably regret asking for her help. Karin who was also watching Sakura's expression looked very smug and decided to take the initiative.

"I think I'll obtain what's mine" Karin said.

The redhead reached out to grab Sasuke when a sharp deadly sword decorated with cherry blossoms within the black blade was pointing to her face. She eyed it for a second before looking at Sakura in contempt as the pinkette continued to read Sasuke's life story.

"One step more and Springtime will leave a very distinct mark across your face and throat." Sakura said softly.

_**C'mon, leave a mark on her fucking face. I love to make that piggy squeal!**_

"You dare raise your weapon at me." Karin hissed angrily.

_**Yeah, I'll even play Noughts and Crosses across your back with it too bitch!**_

"He is still under my ward and if you dare take him before I decide what need's to be done with his soul I will dare use my weapon." Sakura said.

Shiho at looked nervously at the redhead and the pinkette behind the counter. It was never concealed that Sakura and Karin did not get along, but was mostly because Sakura never wanted to be friendly with Karin. Only a few knew the truth about their past. "Haruno-san, maybe it would be wise just to let him go."

Sakura's eyes never flicked off the screen as she spoke the next lines "I would but he does have a redeeming quality."

"What?!" Karin barked.

Shiho pulled the screen back and looked it again, frowning slightly in concentration while Sakura turned back to the redhead with a grin.

"It seems our soul here has saved the life of a puppy and nursed it back to health." Sakura said smugly as she returned the sword to her side, however, Sakura kept it ready within her hand if need be.

Sasuke wanted to cringe at how that sounded but he had to stay calm. It was more of an accident than a good deed; he found the puppy outside his door one day, starved for food and love. He had no idea why but he decided to look after it and it became his faithful companion. He never did get to give him a name anyway, but he was a little sad he would never see him again. It was truly loyal, something he couldn't say much about his friends or business partners.

"One good deed against the many misdeeds? That's hardly worth anything." Karin hissed.

"But it's enough for him to skip hell and be reincarnated." Sakura shot back.

Karin eyes darkened dangerously as her horns began to lengthen. Her hands had elongated and turned into black and red claws and within claw the black trident she griped changed into a deadly sword. She pointed it towards Sakura with great anger and contempt.

"One deed never counts!" Karin snarled; her voice was now deep, demonic and terrifying "Hand me the soul, now!"

Sakura did not look amused when Karin persisted yet she understood. One good deed could not balance the many bad deeds Sasuke had committed, but that good deed was a long-term one that she felt made him better than most who did only short good deeds. Karin wasn't having any of it and Sakura was not allowing her to have this one. So she couldn't help the smirk etching into her face.

"Drop. Dead. Karin." Sakura calmly said.

And Karin lunged at her.

* * *

"SECURITY! SECURITY! THEY'VE GONE CRAZY!"

Was what Kakashi heard when he entered limbo with his charge, a lady who had died of natural causes. He watched as a pale blonde woman run around hysterically with many other reapers. Something was going down and it was BIG.

"SOMEBODY PLEASE STOP THEM!"

And judging by the sonic booms and thunder it had to be a pair of powerful beings.

"Is it always like this around here?" the old lady soul asked, slightly scared.

"Normally no, stay here" Kakashi said, as his eyes wandered about and spotted and old friend of his. "Asuma! Keep an eye on her while I check this out." He didn't even let his friend protest as he made his way over to the commotion.

He began to spot other reapers and beings going that way. Whoever this was would probably be in a lot of trouble and it wasn't long till word would hit the top end of this establishment. When he did arrive finally to the scene he was a little shocked to see who it had been but wasn't surprised that it happened.

Kakashi watched as Sakura kicked Karin in the face and tried to slash her with her sword. Karin blocked her with her own sword and punched her in the gut in retaliation with her free hand. The pinkette then grabbed the redhead's fist and swung her around to throw her aside, but Karin regained her footing and kicked her in the gut to be released. Sakura grunted, letting the redhead go and jumped back immediately soon after when Karin thrusted her sword at her. Sakura parried it away and started an ensemble of fast strikes with her sword that Karin barely had time to block or ward off away.

It was the spectacular show of the year for Kakashi, every time their weapons hit energy just seemed to spill from the blades. It was like fireworks and a mini nuclear explosion all wrapped up in one. Feeling frustrated, Karin tried to thrust her sword at Sakura, but the reaper sidestepped quickly. Karin then swung her sword around with a thrust, which the pinkette also warded off. Their blades clashed several times as Karin became more relentless, trying to push Sakura back with no avail. The pinkette seemed almost annoyed that Karin was even attempting it and the then ducked when Karin tried another wide arch swing to her face.

Their blades then slammed almost painfully into one another's, power against power, causing one more boom in the atmosphere. It was now a sheer will of strength as they pushed their sword against the each other. Their face's in concentration and gritting their teeth in determination, neither willing to buckle of the other's power. Kakashi had the distinct feeling that Sakura wasn't even trying as Karin's sword seemed to be glowing with power while the pinkette's remained normal. He had to stop this before things get out of hand, before things became very bad, before…

"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?!"

…before Tsunade arrived.

Sakura and Karin glanced over to see the Head Huncho of Limbo looking incredibly furious.

"I have a Sorter in hysterics and newly deceased souls frightened at the ruckus because of you two are fighting! Do you have any idea how loud you are?! Thunderstorms are quieter!" Tsunade shouted. "This is a workplace! You treat you fellow worker with respect! Now put down your weapons or I'll have you both discharged!"

Sakura and Karin looked back at one another before shoving off each other with disgust as both their weapons returned to their original form within their hands. Karin then transformed back to her first appearance when she arrived almost reluctantly now she could smell fear in the air, an emotion demons all thrived on.

"Explain yourselves." Tsunade calmly said.

Karin sneered in annoyance as she looked at Sakura "She will not hand me the soul that is destined for Hell."

"He should be reincarnated." Sakura scolded the redhead.

Tsunade frowned and looked at the soul that Sakura had been protecting. Her golden brown eyes narrowed at his form and looked back at Sakura. "Are you trying to protect him because he's a handsome specimen Sakura?"

"What?!" Sakura said, bewildered at the thought. "You know me better than that, Tsunade-sama. I had given over souls who were just as handsome as him to Karin, maybe even handsomer! But he has done a very good deed in life and he should not suffer Hell because of his other bad deeds!"

Tsunade stared for a moment until "SHIHO!" the poor pale blonde woman with the silly glasses appeared once more and found herself being dauntingly stared down at by Tsunade "You were the assigned Sorter of…" Tsunade looked at Sasuke then back to Shisho "…him. What was your prognosis?"

"He has a good deed. But that's just it. One." Shiho said quietly, knowing this was a delicate matter and it needed a delicate voice.

"What is the nature of the good deed?" Tsunade asked.

"He cared for a being other than himself to full health." Shiho said.

"That is a very good deed." Tsunade murmured then straightened herself up again "And the nature of bad deeds?"

"Major Man-whore and during his teenage years; he has stole, bullied and blackmailed." Shiho answered.

"How old is he?"

"Twenty four."

"And this good deed was this before or after these bad deeds and did these bad deeds continue through his years?"

"They continued to a much milder degree as you would have in the business he had. The good deed was after his teenager years."

"Yet you send him to hell?"

"I did not see the good deed until Haruno-san pointed it out. Even then the rules say he should at least be punished for those bad deeds."

"He is young still and it seems to me he would have been starting to make amends, even if he did not realise it."

"Tsunade-sama, even then there is a long waiting list for reincarnation and those souls deserve it for either spending their time in hell remorseful or for the many good deeds they have done in their previous life or those who spent so much time in heaven who wish to feel life again. Those people deserve it, not him." Shiho pointed out "It would not be fair if he skips the line, the rules and procedures are there for a reason."

"Send me to hell." A soft voice said.

Everyone turned to look at Sasuke's resolved form. Karin was grinning like mad and waited patiently for him to walk over to her to be taken _downstairs_. Sakura, however, was utterly pissed off.

"Are you kidding me? I did not just fight that walking fashion disaster for nothing." Sakura barked.

"It's okay Sakura." Sasuke said softly then looked her with a small one sided smile "At least I had someone to talk to while I was dying."

Sakura almost forgot about the incident and when Sasuke said it out loud; she could feel everyone's eyes on her back now. All the while Sasuke looked confused as to why every one was looking like their eyeballs were about to pop out of their sockets. A dark aura could be felt from Tsunade as people began to back away from fiery boss of limbo.

"Care to repeat that?" Tsunade growled while her eyes were on Sakura.

Sakura turned around to face Tsunade and almost wished she hadn't. The look in woman's eye made even Hakumei shiver and run somewhere deep within her mind.

"You were _speaking_ to him while he was _dying_." Tsunade said, her voice was calm but held tinge of darkness to it.

Sakura licked her suddenly very dry lips anxiously and started to explain. "I thought it was the hypothermia at first, as you would know they'd start talking nonsense and all. True, it was the end of my shift but I never once revealed myself. He was looking right at me; he knew what I was before I even spoke a word to him. He actually saw through the reaper guise."

"Is this true?" Tsunade asked, looking at Sasuke.

"Yes." Sasuke replied, though slightly unsure if he should or not.

It was about a minute when Tsunade thought what to do with him. Everyone was tense until Tsunade spoke. "The soul will not be reincarnated." Sakura looked upset as Karin grinned happily. "Nor will he be sent to hell." The pinkette was shocked and she wasn't the only one as Sasuke and Karin couldn't believe what they were hearing. "Karin, you are dismissed."

"But Tsunade-sama…" Karin began.

"You are dismissed Karin, I apologies for the inconvenience this has been for you but the soul is not yours to take. Please return to your duties downstairs, this is now a Reaper matter." Tsunade said.

Karin left eye twitched in anger as she reluctantly lifted her trident and banged the bottom of it twice against the floor. A portal of fire and haunting screams seemed to have torn through reality when it appeared next to Karin. The redhead then suddenly smiled at Sakura with a look that only Sakura would know that made the pinkette frown in response.

"You know, if you had taken the offer you wouldn't have had this problem." Karin said and with that she was gone with the fire portal of haunted screams.

After a moment Tsunade looked at Sasuke and asked "What is your name?"

"Sasuke Uchiha" he answered softly.

"Hmph" Tsunade grunted before looking at Kakashi who had watched all of this "Kakashi, escort Sasuke to my office and wait with him there." She then turned to face the spectators "THE REST OF YOU RETURN TO YOUR DUTIES!"

"Yes Tsunade-sama." The spectators all said and left.

Tsunade stood there as she watched and waited patiently for the crowd to disperse, just to make sure there are no stragglers. While she was doing that Sasuke touched Sakura's shoulder alerting the pinkette that he wanted her attention. She faced him and raised her eyebrows up in a curious, questioning manner.

"Sakura, why did you help me?" he asked.

The pinkette relaxed and smiled gently "You deserved at least _one_ more chance." She then became serious when she continued. "So whatever Tsunade deals you with, don't screw it up okay? She's a fair woman."

He paused for a moment and smiled in a way of thanks. Kaskashi having to have waited enough decided to interrupt.

"Please follow me Sasuke, I have to deal with my charge first and it's a bit of a walk to Tsunade's office. Teleporting isn't really allowed around here unless it's in and out of Limbo while on the job" Kakashi explained.

"Ah." Sasuke said.

She watched as Kakashi walked and Sasuke followed the silver-haired reaper through limbo until they disappeared. The pinkette felt at peace, knowing that she had done some good. But also knowing she was probably going to have an ear-load from Hakumei when she returned from her hiding spot in her mind. A reaper had to be neutral; their duty was neither to heaven or to hell but to collect souls _for_ heaven and hell. She almost did break that cardinal rule if Tsunade had not intervened.

"Sakura, I would like to have a word with you." Sakura heard next to her; Tsunade was standing there looking very concerned.

"Yes Tsunade-sama?"

The big busted woman gestured with her hand to follow and Sakura did. The pinkette watched her boss nervously from the corner of her eye, Tsunade was indeed a fair woman but her temper could rival the fiercest of storms. Remaining calm and apologetic was your only option if you wanted to at least see another day. When they reached a quiet spot in Limbo, Sakura felt her nerves go a little haywire but it was for nought.

"Sakura, what offer is it that Karin is talking about?" Tsunade asked with concern.

The pinkette reaper didn't realised she was holding her breath till that moment, she breathed out a sigh looking more relaxed now.

"A job in Hell." Sakura answered then added at Tsunade's look "I told her to drop dead, along with everyone else that have been offering me jobs down there."

"Insulting a co-worker is not good on your record." Tsunade said but she looked very satisfied with Sakura's response as she smirked. "See to it that it never happens again."

"Yes" Sakura then whispered the last part "Tsunade-okasan".

"Hmph" Tsunade said with a grin and disappeared into thin air, the boss of limbo was the only one to teleport around there.

Sakura continued to smile and checked her watched. She cringed at the time "Oh crud."

* * *

"You're late!" Ino shouted outside the shopping centre they were suppose to meet earlier on. Sakura tried her best to get there fast enough but the blonde was just not happy. Shopping was Ino's number one addiction and it was probably second best thing to her when chocolate was first.

"I'm sorry" Sakura moaned.

"And you're still wearing your uniform!" Ino said a little more calmly now. "What happened?"

"Had a straggler, took longer than it suppose to be." Sakura said.

"So? You should have called me." Ino said, upset. Sakura mumbled a few words. "What?"

"I also got into a fight with Karin" Sakura said a bit louder.

"YOU WHAT?!" Ino shrieked.

"I had to; she was going to take a soul that didn't deserve to go to hell." Sakura explained.

"That is what Sorter's are for Sakura. _You_ don't 'weigh' the souls, _they_ do." Ino said "I'm surprised you're not fired from your stupidity."

"He's different though." Sakura argued.

"Oh jeez Sakura" Ino moaned before shaking her head "Fine, I guess you're allowed that one mistake but don't make a habit of it. Karin is not a demon to be trifled with; I'm surprised you haven't been stitched up together."

Sakura looked worried at her friend when a thought occurred to her.

"Actually Ino, Karin was the one that seemed to have trouble in the fight." Sakura said "Do you think I'm…you know."

"Getting more powerful? Yes. Going _that_ way? No. You've got a good heart Sakura don't doubt it, no matter what your _roommate_ says." Ino said.

"Thanks Ino" Sakura smiled.

* * *

**Thanks for the reviews for those who did, you people are stars that's right **_marti the alien_**, **_FallinCherryBlossom_**, **_C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only_** and my first reviewer **_nassima123_**! You guys rock! **

**Here's a little confession I'm going to make: I have just broken a personal rule when writing in FanFiction.**

**This rule is that I would only update when each chapter has more than five reviews that have at least more than five words with each one. So I've broken it here with this particular chapter. So if you wish for another chapter then please leave me with more than SIX with more than five words with this one. Otherwise you won't be seeing more of 'Reaper Like Me'. Trust me it does get very interesting…please please please please! With cheeries and butterflies and sparkly sparkly things and kittens and puppies, pretty witty please? **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Put the pudding away!**

**.**

**.**

**.**

It was two days later after the incident in Limbo that Sakura was sitting down on the top railing of a building site. There was a light wind that blew steadily as she sat while contemplating about the recent events. She was constantly reminded every time she entered Limbo, whenever she walked by she could here the distinct whispers of hers and Karin's fight over Sasuke. Some of the things that were talked about were preposterous and others did not even come close to the reality of what actually went down. But the thing about being nearly on every employee's most hated/feared list was that when something happened to you it was brushed aside very quickly as it was the 'thing you do' because you were 'suppose to be that way'. Sakura also noticed that the Sorter, Shiho, became very popular all of a sudden. So when she tried to ask that dear Sorter where Sasuke may have gone to yesterday the reply she had was a bit depressing.

*.*.*

Sakura waited patiently till the last gossiper left, then made her move towards the Sorter. She couldn't help but notice the fact Shiho looked like a preening bird with all the attention she was getting and almost a little drunk of it from the looks of things too. However when Sakura made her appearance all of that went flying out the window to be replaced by fear.

"Shiho, _darling_, how are you?" Sakura cooed as she stopped by the counter and then leaned against it with her forearms casually.

"Ha-Ha-Haruno-san." Shiho spluttered out.

"Please, we're friends here, it's Sakura." Sakura said smoothly, trying to ease the girl a bit with some charm as she could see the Sorter was making a poor attempt at disguising her glances toward the exit. "So what's been happening hun?"

"Um…"

"Anything new?"

"…Uh…"

"Don't be nervous dear, just want to talk you that's all"

But the Sorter knew better.

"Wh-what do y-you want?"

Sakura smiled so sweetly that it made the Sorter even more nervous than before. There was something in that smile that made anyone want to cringe in fear and especially for those who knew what she was capable of, rarely seen her smile or both. The rosette girl then cocked her head in a feline fashion that would make the Cheshire cat very proud.

"What happen to Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Um…I…I d-don't kn-kn-know."

"Really? See from the conversation you were having it appeared as though you _did_ know."

"I-I…I lied."

"I see." The pinkette reaper sighed before she leaned a little closer to Shiho and whispered. "Let's have a look at his record again, shall we?"

"I-it's against th-the rules Har-Haruno-san" Shiho said.

"Hmm, yes it is" Sakura said pleasantly then her smile turned into a wicked smirk. "But I could always tell those people you were chatting to the truth you wanted to _bend_ for _your_ benefit."

"That's Blackmail."

"Yes and I'm not above using it with liars."

Shiho mumbled a few things about rules and karma before she typed in on the keyboard of the requested soul. There was a moment of apprehension before Shiho looked back at Sakura nervously and swallowed.

"He's…not there."

"Say what?"

"He's not there." Shiho repeated as she turned the screen towards Sakura once again.

The rosette read the message on the screen that would have been translated to the observer: 'File has been deleted'.

"Well…that's interesting."

*.*.*

It was very interesting as she thought about it. While she did she would occasionally look at her watch and waited for the Builder on the scaffolding to meet his doom. Two days and she had no word about the soul, Sasuke Uchiha, she had reaped. Not even a peep from Tsunade and she had been throwing subtle and not so subtle hints about him. She wasn't worried about him, it wasn't in her nature to about souls but after yesterday she was very curious.

_**Yeah right.**_

_Shut up you._

_**Or what Bubblegum? You can't do shit to me.**_

_I could start revising all the things you can't __physically__ do._

_**Hmm, I see your threat and raise you **_**mental**_** images for the rest of say…eternity.**_

_Hmph._

_**Besides I didn't want to fight with you.**_

_Sasuke is really none of your concern._

_**But he's **_**yours**_**.**_

She watched the builder wobble a bit when she noticed one of the planks was a bit loose. Her eyes narrowed in anticipation but the Builder regained his balance and continued on with his job. The pinkette grunted in annoyance and crossed her arms, it seemed that it was going to be another long day to reap a soul.

_**Forget that guy for a moment and let's focus on Sasuke.**_

_I don't need to._

_**But you want to know he's okay don't you?**_

_He's not in hell, so he's fine._

_**So what did Tsunade do?**_

_Tsunade-sama._

_**Whatever, what did the old bat do?**_

_You are so disrespectful._

_**ANSWER THE QUESTION!**_

_I HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE!_

_**So, where did he go?**_

Sakura would have replied to Hakumei but she felt the presence of someone familiar next to her. She looked over with an almost relieved smile till she saw the orange book with very questionable reading material in his hands. "Kakashi, you are a pervert."

"Ah so you finally noticed me." Kakashi said, not once flicking his eyes off the book. "Longer than usual. Is your roommate keeping you busy?"

"She's constantly yammering at me." Sakura said.

_**It's the only thing I can do with you. Stupid, I name thee!**_

"I see" Kakashi said carefully. "How have you been?"

Sakura frowned in suspicion; she had never known him to check up on her during her shifts. "Is there a reason for your appearance Sensei?"

"Your fight with Karin, it has caused quite a stir. I'm just making sure nothing from the fight has been prolonged." Kakashi said.

She was aware now that something was definitely up as she knew the difference between the truth and a _guarded_ truth. However, Sakura decided to amuse him as he was her old sensei and he could always tell when something is wrong with her regardless. "I'm fine. You?"

"I'm fine too." Kakashi said. "And curious."

"Ah, now it comes out." Sakura said after she rolled her eyes.

"You have matured since you first became my pupil. I've definitely noticed it within the fight between you and Karin so tell me, why were you holding back?" Kakashi said. "I know you Sakura."

"She was holding back too, I don't draw my power from Springtime but she does in Limbo with Aroma." Sakura said, looking over the frames of her pink sunglasses at him.

It was then he actually looked away from his book to gaze at her with worry and surprise.

"Aroma? You know her weapon's name?" Kaskashi said.

Sakura had to stop herself from hitting her head against the railing she was sitting on. She really didn't need people to know about her personal life or anything that tied her to her past. Although Kakashi could keep a secret she still didn't want him to know everything she knew about...that walking _fashion _disater named Karin. The pinkette knew she could never really hide things from her ex teacher yet she'd still liked to try anyway.

"There are many things I know about her." Sakura said reluctantly, giving him a pointed looked.

He shook his head. "You need an outlet Sakura, or at least have something that helps your outbursts. You're a very emotional person Sakura, no matter how much you like people to percieve you as someone unfeeling. It's not you and you know it."

It was Sakura's turn to be surprised. She didn't think he would come up with that after what she had said, then again Kakashi always liked to say something out of the blue, maybe he just had moments where he _had_ to say something that Plato or Socrates would up with once a year. "I thought being emotional was not a part of the job." Sakura said.

"It's not but what happens after the shift is also important. Yes you have a few friends but you seem to tap mostly into their needs and yet not having your own met. Ino may not be the best example as Asuma and I had trouble separating you two."

She smiled at the memories.

"So what would these's _emotional needs_ be of mine? Most of the work place don't like me or even want to be near me. A few dare to." She said very amused now.

"Just think about it, would you?" Kakashi tiredly said.

"Hmm, I will if…"

"If?"

"…If you tell me what happened between Tsunade and Sasuke."

"Oh I would but you are due to your collection and I have to run along to mine."

Poof!

She looked away from the annoying black and silver smoke when she saw he was right.

"Woah wooooah WOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH !"

Her scythe appeared in a puff of black and red smoke in her right hand. When the builder dropped as his harness snapped Sakura jumped down after him to retrieve his soul.

* * *

The Head Huncho of Limbo was pacing up and down in her simple but efficiently beautiful office, hands clasped behind her back as she went. She was that anxious and impatient enough to start pacing while she waited for a particular employee to arrive. Only when there was a knock on the door did Tsunade stop in mid-motion, hoping it was who that she was waiting for. Tsunade straightened herself out and checked her large mirror that she was indeed presentable as the Leader of Limbo should look like. A second or two later she waved her hand and the door opened to reveal the employee in question, Kaskashi.

"Well?" She asked.

She watched as he walked in the moment the door opened and allowed it to close behind him. He looked her squarely in the eyes and straightened his posture when spoke to her.

"Sakura is still adamant on what happened to Sasuke." the silver-haired man said.

Tsunade stalked towards her desk with a groan that sounded almost like a growl. She pulled out one her draws to grab a sheet of paper that was neatly folded there.

"I need her busy." She grunted. She looked up and at Kakashi with a serious expression. "Karin has made a complaint and it will be a matter of time before there's trouble."

"You think she'll attack Sakura again?" Kakashi asked.

"No, Karin is many things but stupid is not one of them. She is not ignorant of the consequences and I don't think she'd really _want_ to. I've seen them fight. If anything Karin was just trying to get to Sasuke, she wasn't really sadistic towards Sakura." Tsunade said then sighed as sunk into her chair there "But it's not Karin I'm worried about."

"Her friends?"

Tsunade gave him a grim smile. "I wouldn't call them that."

"Servants, minions and loyalists?"

"Correct"

"I see."

She stretched her arm toward him with the piece of paper that in turn made him walked toward her and took the sheet from her grasp. "Take this to Shizune and tell her to hand this to Sakura. Seeing you twice in one day will make her very suspicious and this will hopefully loosen her up and tire her out."

He looked at the list then back at his boss with unease "Are you sure about this?"

"Sakura has been on those missions before and have on most occasions come out unscathed."

"She does not have the required senses for them."

"I know that sometimes you still feel like her sensei or a concerned father or big brother at times Kakashi but she's a grown girl now and what she lacks in some things she has more in others. Do not doubt your old student." The Head huncho said calmly. "Those souls still need to be collected and if you still feel concerned ask Ino as she went along with her the first few times."

"That's hard to believe."

Tsunade shrugged. "It's probably one of the reasons why she became an Assigner."

* * *

Ino was filing away a few deaths when she felt the presence of someone familiar to her. She froze like a deer in headlights before she looked up to the person. He was a brunette that had a hairstyle that resemblance of a pineapple shape, about 6ft in height, lean to a point of skinny but it seems to work with his sun-kissed skin, sharp features with soft sultry eyes and he was Ino's biggest crush in the entire place of Limbo.

"Shikamaru, w-what are you doing here?" Ino asked.

"Looking for Chouji, we've finished giving out our assignments for today and see if there's any availability at the local Korean barbeque restaurant." Shikamaru said.

She tucked the loose hair in her face behind her ear and smiled.

"Um no but I'll give you a shout if I see him." Ino said.

"Thanks." Shikamaru said.

He turned to leave but Ino stopped him by grasping his arm gently. "Shikamaru?" He gazed at her with a bored yet strangely a face of interest. "Uh, would you like to go out with me some time? Um tomorrow maybe?"

Shikamaru smiled almost awkwardly at her. "I can't, Temari and her brothers are coming over tomorrow."

"Oh." Ino said trying not to sound crestfallen but her eyes betrayed her. She knew that Shikamaru had a thing for Temari and now that it seemed things were getting serious she couldn't help but be a little hurt.

"Maybe some other time Ino." Shikamaru said "I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see you around." Ino said.

When he left her side Ino went to her filing cabinet, opened the draw to reveal a box and then opened that very box to reveal a big piece of chocolate pudding. She took to the counter and pulled out her mobile phone to ring her best friend.

* * *

Sakura was watching intently as a woman was making some toast when her phone went off. She nearly jumped out of her skin as she was that zone out. Once calming her nerves she pulled the phone out and answered on the fifth ring.

"Hello?" Sakura said.

"Sakura, I did something stupid" Ino moaned down the phone.

"You bought a knock off Gucci bag?" Sakura said sarcastically.

"Worse! Okay may not be as bad but I made myself out as a fool to Shikamaru."

_**Since when are you never?**_

Sakura held her tongue with Hakumei's remark but still twitched at her friend's complaint as she was working. She didn't like it when Ino would ring her up on such trivial things that she knew someone her age would figure it out on their own. But Ino wasn't like that, Ino always wanted Sakura's advice on everything that went wrong with her life, no matter how small. Taking a deep calm breath Sakura knew Ino needed her on this one as well. "Just what exactly happened?"

"I asked him out and he told me that he was hanging out with Temari and her brothers! How will I get him now?"

The pinkette contemplated in whacking her own head against the nearby wall, but thought better of it as she tried to remain calm. Instead her nails from her free hand bit into its palm almost painfully just to relieve some tension in her muscles and maybe that incoming migraine as well. She will not give in to hitting her own head against the wall because her friend was having a melt down over a trivial thing. She huffed and reined her temper in.

"Be his friend." Sakura said patiently trying to sound as if this wasn't bothering her, because it wasn't like she was that busy or needed the money to pay her rent the Monday coming up. "Shikamaru always values friendship above all else, be his friend first. But whatever you do, don't act like another boy around him; he'll only ever see you as one of the guys from that point on. Be yourself and act casual. Whatever happens though you'll have a great friend in the end, be he with you or not."

"Thanks Sakura" Ino said.

"Good, now put away the pudding and get back to work." Sakura said.

"I am not eating pudding" Ino pouted.

Sakura eyed the woman making the toast who was busy doing other things around the kitchen. There was sizzling sound as smoke began to come off the toaster. The woman swore then went to her cutlery draw and brought out a nice metal knife.

"Yes you are; I can hear it through the phone" Sakura said.

"So what? Pudding is comfort food." Ino huffed.

"Pudding is also fattening."

"For those who don't exercise."

Sakura rolled her eyes at her friend's immature ways, she watched the woman draw closer to the toaster. "Hang on Ino, I'm about to reap someone." She placed the phone down on the counter just as the woman started to fiddle around with the toaster. Sakura placed her scythe behind the woman while checking her watch. Then it happened, the lights in the kitchen went static but the woman did not fly backwards as she continued to be electrocuted.

"Oh crud" Sakura said, knowing she will hate this next part.

She placed the scythe above her and swung down on the woman and reaped the soul.

ZzzzAaaaaaaPppp!

The pinkette was propelled into the far side of the wall with a resounding smack. It didn't hurt her, but when being electrocuted it always gave her the problem of muscle function and near lack of reaper-guise for a moment. Oh and hair? It looked like spiked out mush that resembled a rat's nest. There probably wasn't enough hair gel, spray or moose in the world that would straighten that out.

Doing her best to stand and then walk, her body continuously twitched as she made her way to her phone. It was horrible for her, as her legs seemed to have more of mind of their own and sent her ping ponging into every work surface in the kitchen. When she finally arrived to her phone she placed it over her ear and started to speak as best as she could. "I-Ino-o, I-I-I'm g-g-g-going going t-to h-have-ve t-t-to c-c-call y-you-oo b-back l-l-l-l-l-later-eeer." Sakura managed to say.

"You've got another electrocuted one again huh?"

"Y-yep-p"

"Okay, meet me at my place at five this evening; I know that's when your shift ends today."

"O-Okay-yay-yay"

She managed close the phone and to pocket it before she fell to her side on the floor with a thud. There was a brief moment of pause before her entire body convulsed and then stopped again.

_I hate my job._

* * *

When the doors of elevator to Limbo opened a man called Sasori and another called Kankuro strolled in. Most people who knew of them and had spotted them amongst the busy work place were a little stunned to see them. These two men did not cater to Limbo's needs at all, in fact they were pretty much in the opposite of Limbo. However, when the workers saw them heading towards Tsunade's office they carried on with their business. These two men would have made a straight line towards the Big Cheese of Limbo except they had spotted trouble.

Sakura was yet again being bothered by another employee of her father's that was trying to persuade her to change jobs. This one pinkette who had just delivered a soul, who looked like she needed a relaxing bath and wash her hair, was about to finish for today was now increasingly getting more and more irritated by the minute. If the warning signs were not clear enough her very sharp, deadly scythe was in her hands too.

"Is there a problem here?" Sasori said.

The employee looked over to him and smiled pleasantly. "No I was just discussing a few things with Sakura-san." Sakura, however, did not look so pleasant and was ready to be very unpleasant to the employee of her Father. She was thankful when she spotted the two.

"Please just kill him for me, at least I won't have to see his sorry butt anymore" Sakura said to the redhead man.

"We can't but we could give him the worse Karma ever" Kankuro said.

The employee of her Father's sighed and gazed at Sakura a bit pleadingly. "At least think about."

"My answer is still no. Now get gone" Sakura growled.

The employee sighed again and walked off to the elevator. Sakura watched him for a moment with distaste then she looked at the men before her and smiled graciously. She had known Kankuro and Sasori while working as a reaper. Being a reaper did not just mean she collected souls from earth, she also rounded up the souls from either Heaven or Hell to be reincarnated and delivered them to the Reincarnators. Specifically these two as many employees there did not want to be within a five meter radius of her and they were not afraid of the pinkette. Sakura trusted them enough to create a bond with them and could not see anything that would tell her they would turn on her.

"Hey guys, how ya doing?" Sakura asked.

"Not bad." Kankuro said and Sasori smiled in reply.

"What are you two doing here? Are you here to surprise me?" Sakura grinned.

"As much as I enjoy spending some time with you, we were summoned by Tsunade-sama." Sasori said.

"About what?" Sakura frowned, knowing it was a bit out of character for her.

"Aura signatures, apparently you guys are missing some reapers and she's asked us to help out here." Sasori said.

Sakura frowned at that. "I thought you were Reincarnators, helping souls into newborn infants, working while on another plane of existence, isn't that your gig?"

Kankuro and Sasori looked at her amusedly. "There's more to that than placing souls into bodies Sakura." Sasori explained. "You should have a read up on Reincarnators."

Sakura smiled at the thought, she did love a good read whether it is fiction or nonfiction. Memorising facts or extracts of books was a past time hobby of hers. "I think I will."

"Good, it's best to retain knowledge for the sake of knowledge" Sasori said.

"Y'know, our jobs may be the opposites of yours but we were once Reapers ourselves a while ago." Kankuro said. "So it would be good to compare some notes on what's been happening here."

"I…I did not know that" Sakura stunned.

Sasori looked thoughtful and then shrugged at the pinkette as he liked to 'go with the flow' with many things in his life. "Maybe before you were born then, we were pretty good at handling souls but we wanted a change of scenery so Deidara introduced us to Reincarnationary and the rest was history. Although, it has been a while since I've stepped in this place, it really hasn't changed at all." Sasori said.

"I guess the old system still works just as well as it did then." Sakura said.

"Hmm, well it's best for us to be going then." Sasori said.

"See you around Sakura." Kankuro said.

She waved them off goodbye then started to make her own way to the elevator in limbo. Something was up, she knew that. Maybe the situation with the missing reapers was a lot direr than she originally thought. Whatever was the case as soon as she got home from Ino's she would have a read up on Reincarnators or at least annoy Hakumei for some information.

_**Yeah, like I'm going to give you anything Bubblegum.**_

_Oh you're back, how nice._

_**Yeah, yeah, love you too.**_

_Never knew you could._

_**Touché.**_

The pinkette continued her walk towards the elevator, ignoring looks from her co-workers left right and centre. Her skin almost itched at the annoying feeling of distaste from their auras. It was almost like second nature to her now but still time to time she wished she didn't have to put up with it.

_So what do you know?_

_**Urgh, you're annoying you know that? Besides it's going to take a while for me to give you a full encyclopaedia account, memory for these things are not so good plus you haven't been so nice to me lately. **_

_Like you ever were._

_**OooOOooo someone sounds bitchy, going all Oestrus then?**_

_Shut up and be good, I'm tired and you are really getting on my last nerves so if you have anything to say to me now then you best do otherwise stay quiet._

She felt the creature inside her mind smirk viciously then recede into the depths her psyche. It knew better than to taunt the one controlling their vessel. Relieved of Hakumei's decision to withdraw, Sakura continued her way. Just as Sakura reached the elevator and about to press the button someone shouted her name.

_Now what?_

She turned to see a raven, chin-length haired woman with warm coal coloured eyes coming towards her. She was shorter by inch but only looked a lot smaller by Sakura's tensed form and her own black and white kimono robes. The woman smiled in an almost strained but cheery way and Sakura knew that this is probably going to land her in a load of crap.

"Shizune, please tell me you're here to say to hi." Sakura grunted.

"That and this" Shizune said as she handed a piece of paper to her.

Sakura took it and read it. Her face changed from apprehension to exasperation in less than five seconds till she looked at Shizune.

"She wants me to do this now? Right after I've just done my shift! Has she hit the sake again?!" the pinkette growled.

"I'm afraid so. This is important Sakura. Lee would make a blunder of it, Kiba is doing guard duty with Shino and Naruto is currently busy." Shizune said. "If these souls are not collected as soon as possible there will be some serious problems."

"This should have been done weeks ago" Sakura growled gesturing to the paper in her hand. "Look at the date on this."

"I know but with the recent missing Reapers we can't exactly spare one."

"And so you send me?!"

"You have better experience than the rest." Shizune said, looking very nervous at the pinkette who was now looking ready to kill.

"But I hate dealing with _these_ souls!"

* * *

**Oh my goodness.**

**I have never seen so many reviews for ONE chapter.**

**AND long reviews too.**

***Twitch***

**How the…wow.**

**Those wonderful people are *takes a deep breath*: **

_Imortalfantasylover_**,**_ zara dragon__**,**__ FullMetalBec__**,**__ MizuiroNeko__**,**__ poket__**,**__ Asha3__**,**__ .__**,**__ marti the alien__**,**__ HlorkexD__**,**__ MichiiHaru-Chan__**,**__ JunJun1990__**,**__ JingYee__**,**__ nassima123__**,**__ C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only__**,**__ man-chan__**,**__ Appropriate Exclamation__**,**__ liquid state__**,**__ SilverxWolf__**,**__ Eve Alexis__**,**_**and finally**_ Mizz Hime-Sama_**.** **YOU GUYS ARE WONDERFUL WONDERFUL WONDERFUL PEOPLE! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOOOOOU! And if I miss anyone please tell me and put your name up here! WOOT!**

**Right now, I'm just going to let this chapter sink in before setting Chapter 4 off in a couple of days time and then Chapter 5 after a few days from that.**

**What? You thought this was the only chapter I've been working on after seeing sooooo many reviews?! For shame! And Sasuke? Well you'll see *chuckles evilly*.**

**Thanks again guys**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Hazards**

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**I guess you could say  
You're misunderstood  
I know you're meaning well  
But you've been shot to hell**

~ No Doubt

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A door was blasted away from its hinges when Sakura was thrown into and through it at a tremendous force. Her butt then hit the ground and skidded across the floor till her back hit the wall behind her, almost causing her carpet burn. In the back of her mind she was grateful there wasn't an added pain to what she had been going through in the last hours. There was a bunch of devilish, elfish laughter that could be heard in the room that made the reaper frown in annoyance.

"You know how much that means, you've found that special thing, you're flying without wings!" came a few voices sang tauntingly before the laughter could be heard again.

She was in an old Mansion that had high ceilings in the classic Georgian style with spacious rooms and large fireplaces. Unfortunately the old mansion looked like it had seen better days; the plastered walls were cracked and crumbling, a few pieces were just holding onto the very out of date wall paper or wall fixtures, the dirty grey floorboards creaked and threatened to break beneath your weight and all the lighting in any room gave off this horrible feeling that it might explode any moment. It was probably that way with the residences here continuing to scare off potential buyers and new people.

"Whatcha gonna do Pinkie? Need the Brain to help you out? Heheheheheheheheeeee!"

She could sense them moving about confidently and unfortunately if they did not wish to be seen then she would be having some difficulties. The rosette girl stood up slowly bracing herself against the wall, she wished for the thousandth time that day that Shizune had left her alone. These beings were not evil but they sure liked to piss her off.

"Ghosts, I really _really_ hate Ghosts" Sakura growled through her gritted teeth.

"Awe, I know how to make you better, let's dance!"

She very much hated herself too in that second as she was grabbed suddenly by their invisible hands "What? WHOAH!" and these maniacal being she so loathed with a passion started to spin her around the room. If anyone had pointed out to Sakura that 'there was certainly enough room to swing a cat around' they undoubtedly would not be able to remember saying such a thing after the rosette reaper showed how much she _appreciated_ the joke.

"FLLLYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEE EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Round and round, a way she goes, when will she stop? NO BODY KNOWS!" the Ghosts chorused together.

"WEEEE!"

"LET ME GO!" Sakura snarled.

"If you insist!" the Ghosts chimed.

And just like that she was then sent into another room, her world was still spinning when she had landed in a heap. Her back stung from the impact, along with her pride and temper but she was okay. This all would not have happened if she had just waited outside but no, the little cracked up crazy ghosts had spotted her as soon as she took one step onto one of the lovely but unkempt gardens and found that all hell broke loose. Now that she had been thoroughly smacked about enough to be considered an odd shaped ping-pong ball, Sakura just wanted to lie there till the blood stopped swirling around her brain and could think without throwing up whatever she had for lunch or lack off.

_**Dear lord, this extremely embarrassing.**_

_Shut up, feel sick._

_**Oh look, a flying vase**_

_A flying wh-?_

Her eyes widened and she rolled quickly to dodge the vase had been flung at her till she felt the shattered debris against her side, if she had been a second late and she would have had another reason to hate them. The pinkette propped herself up onto her elbows and looked around for the invisible, maniacally culprits.

"She dodged she dives, but will she dare survives? Pinkanatooooooor Pinkanatoooooor!" the Ghost sang together then laughed loudly.

Sakura looked down at her wristwatch that showed 23:59 then 00:00 appeared and so did the Ghosts when she saw them laughing just outside the doorway. Yes, they couldn't be seen if they didn't wish to, except these spirits had never heard about the Witching hour. She schooled her face calmly to stop the manic glee spilling on her lip as she slowly, ever _so_ slowly stood and brushed away the dirt and dust that had been collected against her clothing from the tussle she had with them. From the corner of her right eye she saw the Ghosts grinned at seeing their little plaything was up again. They charged towards her.

"Let's do that again." One of them cried in excitement.

It was so fast that only three of them were now standing instead of the ten that had been teasing her mercilessly. Her scythe was by her side, the blade glowing with ghosts trapped within as the master of this terrifying weapon was placed on her shoulder like the harvester of souls she was. The three ghosts that had been at a greater distance than their trapped friends were stunned at what they saw and when they looked at her they began to tremble in fear. She was smiling in a smile that would put the worst of her enemies trembling in fear and her eyes taking in every shook their incorporeal bodies made with an almost twisted delight. Unfortunately for them, and very lucky for her, she knew these ones were the ring leaders.

"Five things you made a mistake here." Her voice was smooth as silk and cold as frozen rivers as spoke. "One, you abandoned the reaper that was designated to you. Two, resisted to be taken to limbo willingly. Three, throwing me about like a rag doll. Four, never learning about the Witching Hour were beings like I, can see you without trouble. Five, calling me _Pinkie_. Combining it with the fact I really _hate_ ghosts you all deserve meddles and a beating. And since I'm all fresh out meddles, well, you can guess what's going to happen now."

And did they tremble even more when she advance towards them.

* * *

There was a knock on the door of the boss of Limbo office. Shizune, who was helping her employer with some files, waved her hand and then froze in shock when she saw who it was. Needless to say Tsunade was also stunned at the sight of the pinkette walking with purpose towards her. Sakura placed her hands on the desk when she arrived in front of her and tilted towards Tsunade in anger and annoyance, forcing the blonde woman to lean back on her chair. She didn't even have to wait that long to hear Sakura speak on why she was so angry it had positively shown on her face.

"Ghosts! _Ghosts_! You send me after some GHOSTS! Do you have any idea what it's like to be thrown around like helpless rag doll? Do you? And they were throwing not only me but other things about! Forget Naruto or any of others! Why the hell wasn't Kakashi, Gai, Kurenei or Asuma on it!? And don't give me 'they were busy' because they sure as hell weren't!" she fumed.

Tsunade relaxed in her chair and crossed her arms, unafraid of the situation. Though still stunned at the time it had taken for her to arrive back. The ghosts she had assigned Sakura with were supposed to be quite difficult to catch as they were a stubborn bunch that liked to egg each other on. Not many reapers would have tried to catch them yet the ones who did end up failing or never wish to be reapers ever again.

"You survived didn't you?"

Sakura's green eyes narrowed with a deadly precision.

"Tsunade-sama, I was tired when you sent me after them and now I'm exhausted and pissed off." Sakura said, trying to reign in her temper "Why would you do that to me?"

The blonde bombshell raised an eyebrow with an air of authority. "You can't expect me to leave you un-punished for the racket you caused the other day, did you?"

Flabbergast at this Sakura uttered "You put me through all that because of one little fight? You and I both that is full of crap."

"Is it? I haven't deducted your wages and haven't fired you; a simple reprimand is needed in this situation."

"Tsunade-okasan, you never raised your hand at me, nor punished me whenever I had beaten Naruto's butt into the ground or for any fights I had in Hell or caused such damages that would be considered costly to my wages." Tsunade remained silent that moment, debating what to say to the young reaper but Sakura had a quicker mind and had already come up with a conclusion. "Now, see? That right there tells me you're keeping something from me and, with what you've put me through, I know it's something to do with Sasuke." Sakura said. The young reaper stood up straight and crossed her arms in defence.

Tsunade rolled her eyes exasperation and stood. She walked around her desk when she next spoke "And I suppose you want a confirmation? Hmm?" then sat down on the desk, next the pinkette.

"Where is he?"

The door to Tsunade's office was thrown off its hinges (or whatever it was attached to the wall with) when a wet guy with sunshine hair, a muscular frame and a set of gorgeous royal blue eyes kicked it in anger. This lad stormed into the room with an air of self-importance that annoyed Tsunade in that very moment when the young reaper approached her.

"Naruto, that was an old and expensive door!" Tsunade said. "And you are ruining my carpet!"

"Really?" Naruto growled, and then purposely scrubbed his soggy boots into that very carpet. "Didn't notice."

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted at his rudeness.

"It's not even a true door and the carpet self cleans anyway!" Naruto continued, ignoring Sakura.

Tsunade sighed, trying to control her short temper with the boy and looked dead into his eyes with seriousness. "Did you find them all?"

He looked at Sakura with consideration then back at Tsunade with the same seriousness. "I want a pay rise and a week's break! I got sand in places I didn't think was possible! Datteboyo! But yeah got it done and it's been delivered."

"Good, a pay rise is out of the question but a paid week's break will do unless you're truly needed for guard duty." Tsunade said.

"_Two_ weeks paid break." Naruto said in utter boldness.

"Naruto" Tsunade warned.

He pointed and jabbed towards her with his forefinger to put emphasis in his statement. "Sand in places it should _never_ be found woman! That ain't right! That was NOT in the job description at all! AND extra problems while collecting them! Two weeks paid break in FULL or find someone else for your charity service! Datteboyo!"

Tsunade's lips seemed to have disappeared into a thin line as she stared at the young man with irritation before giving in. "Fine but AFTER this month, you hear me? Humans are extra accidental during this season and I don't want another word about this."

"Fine!" Naruto barked then addressed to Sakura calmly and politely "Nice seeing ya Sakura-chan, hope I can catch up with you later in the week." Then eyed Tsunade "If I can" and walked straight out of the office without another word.

Sakura watched after him, astonished before gazing at Tsunade again. "What was that all about?"

"Naruto is just being Naruto." Tsunade said with a shrug.

"Uuuuh huuuuh" Sakura drawled.

"Hmph, I suggest you get going Sakura I have many things to do and you are interrupting me"

Sakura's placed her hands on her hips in defiance "But you haven't answered my question."

"Busy, now OUT!" Tsunade, pointed at her then to the door. Sakura was sent out of the office with an unseen force and the repaired door shut behind the pinkette. She didn't need to open the door again to know Sakura was now hopping mad and most likely going to do something impulsive and quite possibly give her a heart attack if Tsunade had been capable of getting one in the first place. Tsunade then turned to Shizune, who had been observing all of this quietly, and smiled. "Shizune, my sake please."

"Are you sure that's wise? What about work?" Shizune asked.

"Now Shizune" Tsunade growled. "I'm getting a headache."

"Knew it was too good to be true" the raven haired woman muttered as she went off to find Tsunade's sake.

* * *

Sakura felt she had been going through a horror show after her meeting with Tsunade. When she arrived home she ran Ino up to tell her what had happened and was very sorry about how late she was. Ino could hear how tired her friend was and knew how difficult those missions were when one was on their own and decided that Sakura should come round for another evening instead. It would have been the end of it if Sakura didn't receive another hair-raising mission and therefore had call Ino about the situation again. Sakura knew it was probably some sort of punishment from Tsunade as the boss of Limbo had never done such a thing to her before. Sakura had never broken the rules with anything or anyone, she had been too much good girl growing up that the only major flaw was her stubborn streak or got angry when someone called her short.  
It was two nights later that they were finally were able to meet up and Ino decided to take Sakura out for drinks after her friend arrived at her home, near the edge of the Capital in the Middle-Netherworld. Unlike most Netherworlds, Middle-Netherworld was where anyone with any background could live there peacefully as long as they stick to the main rule: 'Harm none and do what ye wield'. This included angels and demons but these individuals were the ones who couldn't give a flying monkey about each other and everyone but themselves and would stick to themselves. The rules were strict and anyone caught breaking them were given three days to leave or face a dire punishment; to murder, rape or abuse anyone meant your own life.  
It was considered a strange world, even by Sakura's and Ino's standards, as what was strange to humans would be normal them and that this world was indeed _strange _to them. Everything seemed impossibly elongated, sketchy rough by what thought you perceived from the very eyes of yours and this world was all black and white from bottom of the ground to the tops of trees and buildings, even the sky was black and white! But it was creepy and it got stranger and creepier at night. Morning it rained or completely foggy, midday it was sunny, clear and warm, evening it was windy and at night people's teeth chattered uncontrollably at the cold, very much like the autumn weather in the western worlds. Colour only seemed to be found on the passing people and indoors was where it was truly bright and cheerful. Then there were places where neon lights were hanged outside the doors and windows and that was mostly for the bars and nightclubs.

That was where Sakura found herself, you see Ino had noticed the rosette girl was a little on edge since she _finally_ finished her shift and she had a feeling she knew why. So with a lot persuasion and threats Sakura relented to her friend's wishes. They both ordered the strongest alcohol at the local bar as Sakura body still felt a little sore and Ino just wanted to relax with her best friend.

"So did you fly into the wall again?" Ino asked, a bit too cheerful for the subject at hand.

_**WEEEE Ka-splat! That's what it was nosey.**_

"Ino, shut up." Sakura growled.

"Killjoy" Ino chuckled. Sakura rolled her eyes at her friend and took a sip of her drink. "So how many missions had Tsunade sent you on for ghosts?"

"Two haunted mansions and a house in a space of three days." Sakura muttered into her drink and took another sip for good measure to finish it off. "Even Springtime is tired."

"Oh poor babies." Ino said, eyeing the empty glass in her friend's hand and then back at Sakura's form "Another drink?"

"Bring it on" Sakura grunted and placed her empty glass down on the bar surface gently despite her weariness where one would unintentionally thump it down too hard and could accidently crack the glass.

_**Drinking is a hazard, Bubblegum.**_

_If I was affected by such things it would be. Now shut up, long day._

"Bee, shoot me some shots yo!" Ino shouted towards the Barman, who was serving someone on the far side of the bar.

"Coming right up Little Daffodil!" the barman shouted back.

Bee wasn't a typical Barman; although he was muscular enough to be some mercenary he actually embraced the ideal of 'make love not war'. He was a tall imposing man with skin as dark caramel and hair as pale as white chocolate, he would be considered delicious to many of his female customers (and to some of his gay ones) but unfortunately for these customers he literally had no time for them after serving them their drinks. He spent most of his time either perfecting his lyrics (to which Ino thanked he stopped speaking to her that way and spoke normally in her presence), looking after his animals that were bigger than any house in Middle-Netherworld and looking after his bar. He was peaceful as he was musically gifted.

"Oh! You won't believe this." Ino grinned when she turned back to the pinkette. Sakura tilted her to show she was paying attention. "They've signed me up as reaper again."

Sakura looked surprised at her friend. "I thought you hated reaping."

"Yes well, Assigners are a pain to talk to, they never really wish to speak to me because I'm a born reaper and it does get boring after a while when assigning the deaths of a lot of humans." Ino said as a matter of fact.

"That does include lawyers and politicians Ino" Sakura drawled.

"Hmm, a joke, a bad one but a joke still. Are you feeling perkier this evening now?" Ino chirped.

_**You suck.**_

"I'll live."

Ino shook her head at the ironic words. "You need better puns."

"Says the girl who gets tongued tied whenever Shikamaru enters the room" Sakura lightly chided, reminding her of her own incident.

"That's different! How am I suppose impress him with a joke?" Ino whined.

"Same with everyone you talk to, you just open your mouth and say a joke. It may be bad or corny but I'm sure he'll appreciate the effort." Sakura said.

"You're a pain, you know that?"

"But you love me anyway, you said it yourself."

"Shut up"

Sakura chuckled and Ino smiled at that. This was the typical part of their relationship, they were sarcastic to one another, annoy one another, joke with one another but most of all they were there for one another no matter what. Since they were little they had been best friends and though they may have had a few hiccups along the way Sakura and Ino would never want it any other way. Bee choose that moment to appear and produced some shots of what Ino was previously drinking before the girls eyes.

"Anything else Flower Child?" Bee asked.

"Nah, it's all good here!" Ino chirped.

"Good, Karaoke is on tonight, feel like some rhymes?" Bee asked.

_**Oh no.**_

"Couldn't stop me even if you wanted to!" the blonde grinned.

_**Oh HELL no! **_

"Be seeing you up there then Little Daffodil!" Bee grinned before attending another off duty reaper.

_**Get me out of here I'm not going to sit through that girl's singing! It's torture! Hell, Karin can learn a thing or two from that screeching cat!**_

_Oh shut up! Ino loves singing and I love her performing 'Saturday Night', it's funky and funny._

_**But EARACHE afterwards!**_

_It's all worth it! _

"So you're going to do some reaping then? Not to sound harsh but why?" Sakura asked as she reached out to one of her five shot glasses and took a swig like a pro.

Ino became serious as she watched her. "We're slightly understaffed Sakura."

"What?" the rosette said, her eyebrows high on her surprised face. "They still haven't been found?"

Ino shook her head in reply; she then reached out for one of her shot glasses and took a swig of it too. The blonde contemplated the telling of bad news while ignoring the burning effects of the alcohol in the back of her throat. Sakura bit her lip as she deeply thought too, worrying the bottom lip with her sharp teeth. She knew this wasn't good, reapers were not known to be pushovers in a fight but for them to be taken or disappear on Earth was unheard of until recently. Her eyes then scanned the room almost half-heartily before her eyes zeroed on a few customers, weighing up the pros and cons of actually speaking to them.

"Does anyone have any leads?" Sakura asked.

"Not that I know of" Ino shrugged. She then caught the look Sakura was sporting when the rosette was staring over to a few demons drinking in the corner quietly as they could. "Sakura, don't even think about it."

"I'm not going to start a fight." Sakura said as she faced her friend again with speed, looking serious and truthful about her words.

"Yes, but I don't think they would appreciate you sauntering over there and demand the return of the reapers. Besides, those demons are more inclined to beat you to a pulp for touching Karin." Ino said.

In annoyance, Sakura jabbed her right forefinger in Ino's direction "Hey, she started it." Sakura pointed out.

_**And I really wanted to finish it!**_

"Very mature of you." Ino drawled, rolling her eyes heavenward and shaking her head before glanced back at her. "Besides, Tsunade-sama has her best operatives over this; you shouldn't really worry yourself with it. What you should be doing is keep an eye out and make the hourly phone calls."

"That's just reminds me, Tsunade-sama wanted to see me tomorrow. I have no idea what it's all about." Sakura said as she and Ino grabbed another shot and then drunk them down together.

Ino was glad she didn't choke on her drink as she looked astonished at the rosette for a moment before her face became thoughtful. She knew their boss was probably punishing Sakura to either appease Karin or the other workers in Limbo, but why go through all this and then ask Sakura to see her when she could just simply send her another mission through the assigners? Her thoughts then came to a conclusion of what could be and didn't like it.

"Must be one of those missions then" Ino said sombrely.

"What? Going downstairs?" Sakura said her thoughts similar to Ino's.

"Could be, they don't just let the average Joe Black down there without having a permission card or a permit from Tsunade-sama."

"Hmm"

"Have fun!" the blonde chirped.

Sakura huffed in annoyance until something walloped from the behind of her head and sent her to the floor. Ino yelped in surprised and pulled her friend up to her feet, both of them had been too relaxed to know someone had sneaked up behind them. The bar went dead still and silent at the commotion that had been caused, even Bee was watching the whole thing carefully in case he had to help out. Sakura rubbed the back of her head and as she slowly turned her head she saw what had hit her. It was one incredibly bulky purple demon that it looked like it may have overdosed on the steroids. Its arms were so long that the tips of its hands brushed the floorboards; its bottom canine teeth protruded passed its top lip near to its grotesque looking nose and what could be arguably the scariest part were the snakelike eyes.

"I Momoshi, Karin's faithful minion, challenge you on the behalf of my Mistress to fight!" it said eloquently.

One would have had to imagine how the bar stayed quiet after the minion spoke but in the back of Sakura's mind it probably was to do with shock. You see, the pinkette would have giggled at the fact that despite the creature's very obscene looks it spoke with a good upper-class accent and that it must have taken elocution lessons or something. Ino had no such trouble in laughing like a crazy loon; in fact, she almost fell to the floor because of how funny it very much was. The big purple demon (not used to treatment like this and more accustomed to people screaming their heads off before running away like the little ninnies they were) looked upset that he was being laughed at.

"Is there something to laugh about?" it asked.

"No, Momoshi, please forgive my friend she's just had a bit too much to drink" Sakura said politely, both protecting her friend and repressing every urge to laugh as hard as Ino. "You wish to challenge me?"

"Yes, you have offended my Mistress, prepare for battle." It said, raising its fists up in a fighting position.

Upon seeing this Sakura felt a rush of excitement running through her veins, there were not a lot of people who wanted to challenge her. She was a peaceful creature but had no problem in retaliating when someone hit her and if Karin's darling little minion wanted to fight her, who was she to pass up this offer? "Wow, they don't make them like you anymore, do they?" Sakura chirped, readying herself to fight.

"Sakura, you know you can't fight him" Ino said when she managed to catch her breath and realised the rosette was actually going to go through with it. "Karin would have a good enough excuse having you charged for damaging her _property_."

Sakura frowned and looked at her friend, she really hated when she tried to suck all the fun out for her but she had a point. She then turned back to the purple demon and gave it a good once over, annoyed that _brain_ was going to have to be the answer for tonight.

"Before we start anything Momoshi, you're a slave right?" Sakura asked as she crossed her arms together. "You have no choice to fight me because Karin ordered you to or are you doing this willingly on your own behalf as you are loyal to her?"

"Both." It replied, though a bit hesitantly.

"And if say I defeat you, you won't try to correct the mistake over and over again? I hate to be unemployed because of that, but I probably would enjoy going after your mistress for the nuisance she caused me and you would be no where near her to protect her." Sakura explained in a bored but polite fashion. "If she was a…_cherishing_ mistress as you believe her to be she wouldn't be doing this, unless she thought to be weaker than myself."

"My Mistress has enough power to destroy her own ring of hell and I included." It defended.

"Alright, and if she can do that then why send you to fight me? After all, if she's so powerful why send her faithful minion, who is less powerful than herself? I doubt downstairs don't have rumours so you must have heard about our fight, yes?" She said and continued when she saw it had nodded in agreement. "So you would have learnt that had it not been for a timely intervention of my boss we would have tired each other out. So think Momoshi, would you survive a fight against me? The one Karin had trouble with? A Reaperof _Souls_?"

Momoshi seemed to have realised the danger it was in now if it tried to fight Sakura and began to back away. Sakura smiled softly at the big purple demon as she sat down on the stool it had knocked her off from and picked up one of her full shot glasses. Her elbow was placed on the bar work surface while her drink was held up in an elegant fashion.

"Oh, Momoshi? Please tell Karin, not to send anymore of her lackeys otherwise I will send Naruto to have a _word_ with her." Sakura said and downed her drink before placing on the work surface in a fluent manner, as if this sort of thing happened hundreds of times. She had taken great delight when its eyes widened at her other blonde friend's name and then she watched the purple creature scuttled off to disappear.

The bar noise returned to normal when the minion was gone and Sakura could see from the corner of her left eye Bee let out a huge sigh of relief, knowing he must have been praying or something. The rosette mused it must have been because he didn't want to shut down for repairs; Sakura wasn't exactly a gentle a fighter and she tended to get a little carried away. Her best friend then plopped herself down in her seat next to her, looking very entertained at the events transpired and gazed at her to which Sakura mirrored as she relaxed back against the bar's work surface.

"You'd send Naruto? That's a bit on the harsh side." Ino smirked.

"Hey, if I have to hear him scream down my ear once in a while Karin should have the honour too." Sakura smirked back.

There was a moment before the pair laughed out loud, sounding almost like a pair of witches on a Halloween night. It felt good to Sakura, and Ino knew then the girl had finally calm down and relaxed for the night.

"Karaoke time y'all!" Bee shouted across the bar.

Ino squealed happily at this and shot off her chair to the stage while Sakura watched her friend contentedly.

_**SOS! SAVE OUR SOULS! MAY DAY! MAY DAY! ABORT ABORT!**_

_Suck it, Hakumei!_

_**You wait! You will rue the day Karaoke was born!**_

"Whatever" Sakura muttered quietly to Hakumei happily as the music started up from Ino's selection.

* * *

It was slightly chilly later that night as a lone red head woman walked down the street. Her green eyes were checking her text messages tiredly from a long shift in Limbo. Since there were missing reapers everyone seemed to be taking longer to finish their shifts. More souls had been applied to the lists and everyone had to be quicker to get from one reaping to another in a short space of time. There was a gust of wind and she pulled her collar up higher from the chill with one hand but as her fingers released the material she stopped in mid-step. Her heart started to speed up a bit as she felt a dark intent pulsating in the air. Slowly she looked up from her screen and straightened herself to scan the area properly at full height. The only things she could see moving were the few leaves left over from last autumn and a plastic bag gently taken by the wind. It looked completely peaceful and serene.

Looks were deceiving.

Her black scythe appeared in her free hand and she raised it so the blade parallel to her thigh, allowing it to point to the sky. The red head turned cautiously for a better look.

"Fee"

Hers flicked to the rooftops.

"Fye"

To her left.

"Foe"

To her right.

"Thumb"

She then turned to where she originally was facing before she felt the dark intent.

"I see a cute reaper and then some"

Her eyes focussed and narrowed at the figure in the shadows, leaning against a nearby car. They held their fingers that made a diamond shape as they rest against their thighs. The red head started to dial a number but the phone was shot out of her hand with a knife. The blade was thrown so fast she barely felt the phone being ripped out of grasp and nailed into a nearby car. She gasped at the speed in shock but kept her eyes on them, knowing to never to take your eyes off the enemy until they were either truly incapable of moving or dead.

"Silly reaper, that's not very nice."

She swallowed nervously and then grasped her free hand to the scythe tightly, holding it now with both hands for battle. Yet this being just looked so relaxed and content, it made her want to shiver.

"If I wanted a party I would have called you're friends already"

"Who the hell are you?" she asked, sounding braver than she was.

It sucked in some air dramatically, as if she did something so audacious. "Silly _silly_ reaper, cursing like that, it's very rude you know." She then felt the dark intent turning almost mischievous but still had the deadly touch to it. "I'm bored, let's play."

"Stay back!" she shouted, raising her scythe to defend herself.

"Don't you want to play with me cute little reaper?"

"I'm warning you!"

Before she knew it she was faced down on the floor, her scythe gone from her clutches and her right arm twisted back while her other had its weight, maybe a knee, against it. She moaned uncontrollably in pain, the first to ever to feel such sensations in a long time, as she felt it play around with her finger. She still couldn't see it from over her shoulder but judged that is was fast and uncannily strong now.

"I want to _play_."

And her world went white.

* * *

**Yeah no Sasuke here. But he shall arrive soon! Just have to wait and see!**

**Okay! Chapter 5 is ready but like I have done with Chapter 3 it shall be released when Chapter 4 has sunk in. Till then I am working on 'Between the Shades of Grey'.**

**Thanks for the reviews from: **_Appropriate Exclamation_**, **_LadyPassionofHate_**, **_DarkAngelRakell_**, **_MichiiHaru-Chan_**, **_falalahlalala_**, **_HlorkexD_**, **_SasuSakuKawai_**, **_chowder101_**, **_FullMetalBec_**, **_xhyperanimefreakx_**, **_C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only_**, **_Asha3 _**and **_Mizz Hime-Sama_**.**

**You guys are fantastic!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Lovely.**

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.

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**Send a wish upon a star  
Do the work and you'll go far  
Send a wish upon a star  
Make a map and there you are**

~Sia

.

.

.

The rosette reaper was drinking coffee so dark that if you listened ever so carefully the souls of the damned could be heard. She was tired, so darn tired that any moment she could snap and start a massacre. Last night she had her pillow curled around her head from the most unforgiving sound there was. She gritted her teeth in anger as the HORRIBLE sound continued to wail horrendously. Finally when she couldn't stand it anymore she casually got up from her bed, grabbed her stress ball, opened the window and hauled it straight at the cat that have been singing.

Needless to say Fluffy will think twice about a solo career. But thanks to that feline, Sakura was going to be one irritated reaper today.

_**I think it's a splendid thing really.**_

_Shut up!_

_**What? I like a grouchy bubblegum, less talk more fun.**_

_I'm not going to kill anyone here._

_**Kill? No. Maim? Yes!**_

_You need a hobby._

_**That is my hobby.**_

Sakura grumble incoherently while she entered the lobby to the elevator that led to Limbo and took another sip of her coffee through the protected lid. Her wonderful black coffee with extra lovely caffeine for her that gave that delightful wakeup bell to her foggy brain, so good. Ignoring the man reading his newspaper behind the counter she walked by him and hoped he would too.

"You're late." The man behind the counter said, dashing that hope with two words.

Sakura paused in her step; her face twitched in irritation and looked down at her steaming hot black coffee. She contemplated a dark desire as her eyes flicked over to the man and back to her coffee.

_**Oo-oo-oo! Are you going to throw it at him? C'mon! It'll be fun! Lift the lid and THROW IT LIKE YA MEAN IT!**_

Then continued her way to the elevator; ignoring Hakumei's plea for destruction on the man's face. She pressed the button on the elevator and waits for it come. She smiles thankfully that it wasn't coming from downstairs.

_**You are such a fucking pansy! You know that? I can't believe you wouldn't scold that ugly mug off!**_

_I liked to keep my job, thank you very much._

_**Damn, cat should have had a choir!**_

The door opens with a ding before she entered and pressed the up button. The door closed and she was sent towards Limbo as ignored Hakumei's continuous ranting and her insults. She was use to it but the annoying creature inside her psyche just never seemed to understand that Sakura would never do what it wanted. This was a godsend as she knew the being was very cunning. The doors finally opened when the elevator stopped and she was greeted by a loud blonde.

"HEY SAKURA-CHAN!"

"AHHHH!!" Sakura shouted, while she pressed her coffee against her heart with one hand then with the other smacked him up the head. "Na-RU-to!"

_**I think I just lost five years of my life!**_

"Ow! Hey watch it Sakura-chan! I already have a bruise on my head datteboyo!" Naruto said.

"Did you upset Tsunade-sama again?" Sakura huffed.

"No, it was my new roommate really. Jeez the guy doesn't know a good joke if it bit him in the ass! Tsunade wants me to look after him while she finds him another accommodation." Naruto muttered sourly "I think she may have hit the shake again."

They started to walk briskly towards the Assigner counter together.

"You can't blame her with the sake, the missing reapers are a serious business" Sakura pointed out.

"I guess so, you okay? You look a little tired."

"I am, hardly got any sleep last night".

"I thought you don't"

"Ha ha" Sakura dryly said before they reached the Assigning desk.

Now that Ino was reaping she didn't have a friendly face to go to collect her list. The assigner there barely kept her face neutral from contempt when the pair had arrived and pulled Sakura's list out without a word. The assigner then turned away from her and started to do some filing. Sakura rolled her and lifted her hand up and shook her head to halt Naruto's barrage of insults to the girl. The pinkette then read the list and frowned.

"There's like three hundred souls here." Sakura said to the assigner.

"Yeah I know." The assigner said, looking incredibly bored at her. "Plane crash."

"You need a team of reapers for that." Sakura said.

"We can't spare any at the moment. You will have to do without." The assigner said.

"Lovely." Sakura sarcastically said.

The pinkette turned to leave, heading to a safe spot before she could teleport. Naruto saw where she was going to, followed and grabbed her arm as soon as she was half way there. Sakura looked up at Naruto with an eyebrow lifted in a questioning manner.

"Don't you have a meeting with Tsunade?"

"Oh, right." Sakura said then checked her list and sighed "I can't, the reaping is in fifteen minutes. You'll have to explain it to her, please?"

"She shouldn't have assigned you that many, you think you scythe can handle it?" Naruto asked.

"It will require a lot of energy but I can manage." Sakura said.

"I thought you were tired."

"I am, but keeping my job is more important."

"More important than your own health?"

"It's better than my other option."

* * *

Tsunade handed a very thick document to Shizune before analysing the next one. Her eyebrows knitted together in concentration and began to make a few notes. While she was doing that Shizune patiently looked though the document at lightning speed and gazed at Tsunade again when finished.

"Is that all Tsunade-sama?" Shizune said.

"Yes, make sure it arrives on time. Kana has a habit of keeping those who are late." Tsunade said without looking up from her document at all.

"I said it was not my fault! He had this 'voice' and it was like I couldn't resist." Shizune grumbled.

"He's a demon and I don't want you playing about while you're suppose to be working, now scat"

Shizune grumbled a few more words but inarticulately as she walked to the door and opened it to see Kakashi who had raised his knuckles to knock. He blinked, a little perplexed, but smiled underneath his mask as he dropped his raised hand down to his side.

"New power Shizune?" He asked.

"No, just leaving Hytake-san." Shizune said.

"I see." He said then stepped aside.

Shizune bowed and walked by him hurriedly to deliver the documents. The silver haired reaper walked through doorway and allowed the door to close behind him. When Tsunade made no attempt to look at him he coughed to get her attention. He saw her finally look up at him and then rolled her eyes.

"What do you want Hytake?" she asked.

"You wouldn't have seen my student now would you?" Kakashi asked.

"He's working right now" Tsunade said.

"I thought you wouldn't be giving him an assignment till next week." Kakashi said.

"This is important and I'm under staffed."

"And more so now." Naruto said as he appeared through door. He placed a phone with a knife embedded in it on Tsunade's desk. "Found this last night when doing my shift."

Tsunade picked it up and eyed the phone. "Who does this belong to?"

"Tao Fae, she was taken last night" Naruto said grimly.

"What? Are you serious? She's suppose to be from one of the oldest reaper families"

"Yeah, I know. So whoever this is they're very strong. From the stories I heard about Tao, she's a good sparring partner and smart too. I didn't see any evidence of a fight but with the knife I think she tried to make contact with us but the bastard must have stopped her." Naruto said.

"He, or she for that matter, must have been fast if there wasn't much evidence of a fight." Kakashi said. "Seems he's going for reapers at night or particularly _when_ it's night in that place."

"It's sloppy though. There are fewer reapers about so that would bring it to our attention quickly and leaving this knife behind for us to analyse, it's careless." Tsunade said then placed the phone down. "Unless, that's the aim, to get our attention and they seem to be doing a good job at that."

"Who?"

"Someone with a huge grudge."

* * *

The raven hair girl by the counter was watching the newly instated reaper arguing with a soul. Her pale eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance and boredom. Usually she would have an infinite amount of patience but there was something about Ino that would drive anyone around the bend. She was a sorter for a couple of weeks for a little bit of understanding the human psyche and some research on what reapers handle on them were. So far Ino was being a bit of a negative case to be studying.

"You killed me!" the male human soul shouted.

"I may be in the death business here but I just collect souls, I don't kill!" Ino barked "I let you die really"

"_Let_ me die??!!"

"That's the gig I do." Ino said. "I collect souls and bring them here to be sorted."

"Send me back!"

"Two things: can't do that and if I do then we'd be back here again. You're dead now. Get over it."

"Then send me into another body!" he argued.

"Um, that's pretty much reincarnation and that is reserved for those who want to live again after being dead for so long. You are pretty much fresh." She argued back. "And you will have no memories, it's a clean slate."

"Fix my body and send me back then!"

"Sir, please understand this. It was your time." Hinata said, interrupting Ino before she could say anything.

"Sod that! I want to live." The man argued.

"We can't allow that." Hinata said.

"Why not?"

"Because you are dead."

"I want to live!"

"Is there a problem?" a voice drawled lightly.

The three looked over to see Shikamaru looking very bored at them. Ino blushed heavily and became tongue tied but Hinata wasn't having any problems.

"The soul won't go to paradise." Hinata said with a shrug.

Shikamaru blinked and looked at the man. "You are joking, right?"

"Look I understand that if you run a tight shift here but I have to live! My wife and kids depend on me!" the man said.

"Troublesome. Did you have good life insurance?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yes."

"Then they won't need you to provide money. Does your wife have a loving family?" Shikamaru continued.

"Yes." The man said hesitantly.

"Then she will have emotional support from them and for the children." Shikamaru said.

"But it's not the same!" the man pointed out.

"No, it's not. But your wife will be okay and she'll come out strong from this especially for your children. In paradise they do offer a service, were you can enter the dreams of the living to comfort your loved ones. I'm sorry, but we simply can't send you back."

The man looked down to the ground, quite upset still. He sighed and nodded. Hinata smiled gently and pressed a button. There was brilliant white light and a lovely woman with long white hair and blue almond shaped eyes appeared. Her clothing was simple and light, she seemed to glow this wonderful golden light all around her. The man stared at her in wonder and she smiled graciously.

"Your forebearers are waiting for you Sir, are you ready now?" She asked kindly. He nodded almost dumbly and took the hand that she extended to him. The lovely woman looked towards Ino and smiled. "Thank you for trying but next time, try a bit more diplomacy and understanding from their point of view Ino, human emotions are very fragile compared to us." And she was gone with the man in another bright white light.

"That cheeky Angel! And how in limbo does she know _my_ name?" Ino asked.

"Troublesome. Angels don't continuously need to repopulate like demons do. They learn about the new comers as time goes by" Shikamaru said.

Ino blushed when Shikamaru spoke to her and felt a little embarrassed at her lack of knowledge. He smiled kindly at her and it deepened when he noticed she was flustered.

"Still got a lot to learn little cricket" Shikamaru said in a lazy drawl that had Ino shivering happily. "I could teach you some time if you want." He shrugged "Right now, I got some troublesome stuff to do but when we're free I guess."

"O…kay" Ino said in a slight dreamy fashion.

"Okay, see you around Ino." Shikamaru said and looked at the raven haired girl who'd been watching the exchanged the whole time. "Hinata." He nodded.

Hinata waved Shikamaru off and he left the girls behind to do his troublesome work. Ino gazed longingly after Shikamaru's leaving form that Hinata couldn't help but notice.

_Someone has it bad._ Hinata thought with a soft smile.

* * *

The graveyard was quiet when Sakura entered it. Her eyes immediately began to scan the area. What had happened was when she was going to collect the souls of the aircraft she had forgotten to take the initiative and ask how the plane would crash. Apparently one of the engines had exploded, causing a hole in the aircraft and sent one unfortunate soul with a free skydiving lesson without a parachute. She had to collect that one later as keeping of the rest of the unfortunate passengers if she left would be a pain.

No, this particular passenger didn't land in a graveyard but with fresh souls they usually appear in these places and could be seen easily by her. She actually landed a few miles off and Sakura had tracked her here. She could sense her confusion and fear and she trailed it all the way to a mausoleum. The mausoleum in particular had a statue of a male angel and he was looking towards the passenger. It then flicked its eyes towards her and smiled.

"I tried comforting her but she wasn't very responsive" the angel said poignantly.

"She wouldn't be; she had a terrifying ordeal with a plane." Sakura said sharply.

"And you left her?" the angel barked.

"I was on my own collecting the rest of the passengers." Sakura said.

The angelic statue tutted at her "You should have had a team"

Sakura placed a gentle glowing hand on the passenger's shoulder, she looked up afraid. Sakura looked down at her calmly as her scythe appeared in her hand, glowing brightly with all the souls collected. There was a soft inaudible whisper coming from the light.

The soul looked towards it and became hopeful. "Mum?" The whisper became more soothing and gentle. The soul began to glow herself and changed into a wisp of light then softly entered the blade by itself. Sakura sighed as the scythe disappeared in her hand, then turned but to the statue of an angel.

"They didn't want to deploy a whole team" Sakura said. "We're missing some reapers."

"Missing reapers? I thought that was a rumour" the angel said.

"It's not. You wouldn't know anything?" Sakura asked.

"My scenery doesn't really change" he drawled.

"So how do you know about these rumours?"

It then gestured to the nearby church with his eyes. "The Gargoyles, they and the crows are always communicating, I hear bits and pieces."

"What have you learnt though?"

"That a few Reapers have gone missing. But the Gargoyles think something is coming. You'll have to speak them directly."

"I was afraid of that."

"Why?"

"Thanks for the help" Sakura said, ignoring the angelic statue's question and walked off to the direction of the exit. The statue gazed at the gargoyles in the distance then back at Sakura's retreating form, almost like it was contemplating something before closing its eyes again.

Sakura did not wish to speak to the Gargoyles just yet. They were a sneaky bunch and seemed to be keen in sending her round in circles than actually helping her and if she tried finding a crow or maybe a raven there would be some difficulties finding out more stuff. The pinkette decided to leave it until she could figure out a game plan and maybe some help from another reaper that wasn't afraid of Gargoyles. That is if she could get to the exit any faster, problems with graveyards was not only do they attract fresh departed souls they almost make teleporting impossible.

_**I really don't like angel statues.**_

Sakura rolled her eyes at Hakumei voicing her opinion in her head.

_You don't like anyone._

_**True, but they always are a pain in the butt, thinking they are so high and mighty.**_

_You have a lot in common then_

_**Ha ha. Not. You are just as bad, but I like you anyway.**_

_Thanks__**.**_

_**Nah, I kid, if I was in control we wouldn't be doing all this **_**fun**_** work.**_

_How nice._

_**Thought so.**_

Sakura rolled her eyes as she felt that psyche leave her to withdraw to the depths of her own mind again. The pinkette had no trouble in believing that if Hakumei was unleashed to the world there would be total chaos. She probably would take over hell if Sakura allowed it. Yet, if there was one thing that she and Hakumei loved doing was fighting and they did well when in sync. She turned a corner and she a saw a man with a spiky hairstyle at the back of his head that she instantly recognised. She blinked not only once but twice just to make sure her eyes were not deceiving her from her exhaustion. He saw her and smirked crookedly.

"Hello Sakura."

"S-Sasuke."

* * *

**Right, there you go Chapter 5. I _am _working on 'Between the Shades of Grey' but, blimey, is it a pain to write out. I'll get the next chapter out when I can, not too sure when. Just depends on the inspiration and if I have the time get it out with deadlines coming up.**

**Oh and before I forget big thanks to: **_Appropriate Exclamation**, **SasuSakuKawai**, **JunJun1990**, **man-chan**, **HlorkexD**,** FullMetalBec**, **nightwish635**, **sleepingdreamer08**, **C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only**, **Mizz Hime-Sama_**and finally**_ xhyperanimefreakx_**. Wonderful wonderful wonderful people for reviewing**!!

**Anyway, I hope you guys liked the new installment of 'Reaper Like Me'. Tell me what you think and I'll see what I can do to bring about Chapter 6 and 7 this month. Till then please leave a review! ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: A side order of Dead Boy, anyone?**

.

.

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**I'm not dead I'm just floating  
Doesn't matter where I'm going  
I'll find you  
I'm not scared at all**

~ Pink

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.

.

Sasuke was thrown through Tsunade's door and landed with a grunt. The Big Cheese of Limbo stared at him for a second as he began to brush the invisible dirt off his clothes. She then looked up and saw Sakura walked through the open door a second later.

"Please do come in Sakura, Sasuke." Tsunade sarcastically said then grumbled "I may as well install a revolving door."

"What is he doing alive? Huh? I reap his soul and now he's walking about breathing! What the hell is that all about?" Sakura yelled.

Tsunade sighed as she placed her forehead into the palm of her hand that had the elbow resting on the desk.

"SHIZUNE!"

Shizune's head popped right round the doorframe and spots Sakura and Sasuke together "Oh" in the same room "_Oooooh_" Shizune then cringed "Oh dear."

"Bring me my sake please." Tsunade growled

"I hardly call this a time for drinking!" Sakura growled.

Tsunade glared at the pinkette then at her assistant who was looking very nervous and hadn't move from her spot. "NOW SHIZUNE!"

The door slammed right before Shizune's face. Sakura impatiently started to tap her feet against the floor as Sasuke slowly pushed himself off the floor and stood up. Tsunade aimed her middle and forefinger towards the floor, waved and pointed towards the ceiling, and then just like that, two chairs appeared before her desk.

"Please sit" Tsunade said gestured towards the chairs.

"I rather stand" Sakura said rebelliously as Sasuke took his chair and sat down upon it.

"SIT!" Tsunade roared.

"Okay okay" Sakura grunted and sat down her chair.

Tsunade rested her elbows against the desk while she pressed her hands together, occasionally tapping the tips of her fingers against each other. She looked sternly at the pair before she glanced at Sasuke.

"What part did I say 'we're keeping a low key on this' did you not quite understand?" the blonde woman asked, her tone serious and her face annoyed.

"I did not see the harm in speaking to Sakura." Sasuke said.

Tsunade slammed a fist against her poor old desk, cracking it for a moment before it mended itself. "Sakura happens to be a high profiled reaper here. They watch her every move. She would have been removed with her fight against Karin last week, had it not been for the fact of the circumstances involved and Karin delivered the first blow. Simply put they fear her. Now being associated with her you will be watched."

"You said no one looks at the soul but the reaper who collected it." Sasuke said.

"Yes. But you are no longer dead." Tsunade pointed out.

"Okay quick interruption here." Sakura said as she raised her hand up "I know he's not dead anymore, I know people watch me like a hawk and I also know most people just don't like me." Then gestured towards Sasuke with that hand "What I want to know is why he's alive, why he was on earth and why was this kept from me?"

Shizune opened the door that moment and closed it behind her quickly. She trotted towards Tsunade with a tray three cups and two large bottle of sake.

"Wonderful timing, Shizune" Tsunade said and grabbed one of the large bottles of sake. She opened it with her fine manicured thumb nail with a resounding 'pop' and took a swig of the contents. "Ah, that's the stuff" and placed it down on the desk in front of her. "Now, where to begin?"

"How about: when I left Kakashi to take Sasuke to your office?"

* * *

_Five Days Ago._

The office of Tsunade immediately lit up when Sasuke and Kakashi entered its domain. Sasuke's eyes roamed across the room, carefully looking at each shelf to the desk and the other shelf on the other side of the room. "I guess windows aren't necessary in Limbo." Sasuke said out loud and frowned as he looked towards Kakashi. "Do I lack an inner voice now I'm dead?"

Kakashi looked at him amusedly. "No, you just don't concentrate enough to think inside you're head now that you're dead. It's the problem all souls have when they shed their body; they sorta shed a part of their freewill too."

"Great." Sasuke murmured.

"Sakura was right about Tsunade-sama though, you'll have to be polite. So try your best not to insult her."

"What makes you think I will?"

"What makes you think you won't?" Kakashi countered. "Like I said, shed body shed a bit of freewill. You have less control over your actions and emotions now. So be very aware of what you do or think."

"Hn."

A moment later there was a puff of light and smoke and Tsunade was sitting in her large chair behind her desk. She looked at the men for a second before she waved her hand and two chairs formed from the floor. Tsunade then rest her elbows upon her desk and cradled her chin on the clasp of her hands, observing the pair though mostly at Sasuke.

"Please sit, there is much to discuss" she said calmly. They both did at the same time and it un-nerved Sasuke just a little at how much control he kind of lacked. "Were you telling me the truth of what happened at your death?"

"Yes." Sasuke answered.

"Then you should realise at how serious this is. You are able to see death. A grim reaper. Humans, psychic or not, can not see us while we're on the job. But you did and you are human." Tsunade said then a piece of paper appeared in her hand and she gazed at it. "There is no indication of interrelations from either side of the family with _either side_."

"Either side?" Sasuke repeated in confusion.

"Angels and demons." Kakashi supplied.

"Angels are real?" Sasuke said, stunned.

"Yes and you are not a descendant from any of them. Grade A Human." Tsunade said as she read the paper, which Sasuke guessed to be his life record or something along those lines. "Which begs the question as to how you saw Sakura." She then gazed at him with her lioness eyes. "You can see my dilemma."

"I don't know what you mean." Sasuke said.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "We reapers prefer not scare the crap out of the living or dying. We do our job. Well they do their job; I oversee it that they are doing it right. Trouble could start if this happens to be a trend amongst the mortals. That and there are already missing reapers."

"Missing reapers?"

"Yes, you see it's been brought to my attention that there is someone out there abducting reapers and here you are able to see them."

"You think I'm doing this? Even though you have a document of my life you still think I'm doing this?"

"I don't know, you could be a trickster of some kind, I've never heard of a human to see a reaper before they take their soul."

Sasuke looked furious at the blonde. "I just died! I didn't think this stuff existed before!"

There was a moment pause before Tsunade opened her mouth again. "You are telling the truth." She said and smirked when the dead man frowned at her annoyed. "I can not let you go to heaven and nor can I let you be reincarnated without punishment. I could call Karin to pick you up but Sakura would definitely know this and Karin was always a boastful creature." She lifted her elbows off to cross her arms and relaxed back into her chair. "So, what do I do with you?"

Sasuke then looked slightly nervous at this, if he still had organs they'd be squirming by now. He breathed in an unneeded breath and watched the Head Honcho of Limbo think.

"Well, we can't have you walking about incorporeal; staff here would know it would be you and I can't stand gossip about me. Whatever I might give may be bothersome so you need more than standard body."

"Excuse me?" Sasuke said, he was astonished at what he was hearing that this also included Kakashi who had been reading his book the whole time.

"You are going to live again." Tsunade said.

Kakashi dropped his book on the floor in shock, the same time Sasuke dropped his jaw. "Say what?" the men chimed together.

"You are going to live again but you are going to work here. There had been a practice were human souls became reapers but had been dropped when incidences occurred. It hasn't been outlawed thankfully."

"I'm going to be a reaper?"

"Not quite." The blond woman looked towards the stunned silver haired man. "Kakashi, he'll be your student. Teach him all you can in the training room. Preferably those stocked with food, you'll be in there for quite a while. Please also on your way out summon Naruto, Sasuke will need someone to train with while you are on duty. Reapers are still missing and shifts still need to be covered and I know Naruto will not breathe a single word of this."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama" Kakashi uttered then crookedly smiled at Sasuke. "Guess that means I'm your sensei."

"Goody." Sasuke drawled then his eyes widened that he let that slip.

Tsunade looked amused at him then was in front of him in a blink of an eye. "That reminds me." She then slapped him across the face. "There you go, 100% free will restored." The blond smirked at his stunned face as he touched his cheek. "Now control that tongue of yours or I'll take away all of it."

She then walked back around her desk to her chair and sat down as Sasuke said "You slap me and I get it back?"

"It's like a 'slap of reality' or 'slap some sense into you', there are other ways but they're more time consuming" Tsunade said and shrugged. "Personally, I like that one."

"Hn." Sasuke said. _I bet you do, you old overgrown battleaxe. _He controlled himself from revealing his joy from not letting that one out and even more so that she didn't seem to be able to hear what he thought.

* * *

"So that's what Sasori and Kankuro were for." Sakura said.

"I see you still got a good memory" Tsunade said.

"Continue"

* * *

_Two Days Later_

A redheaded man and another man with purple markings on his face entered Tsunade's office as the Boss of Limbo worked from her desk. She looked up from her papers and saw the pair standing by the door, almost cautiously. She appeared slightly annoyed at that before giving them a dry look.

"Gentlemen, I'm not going to bite. Please come closer." Tsunade said.

"You weren't happy the last time we saw each other Tsunade-sama." Sasori said.

Her right eyebrow rose in amusement, both from the memory and the way Sasori addressed her. Technically she was not his boss anymore but it seemed he still gave her the same respect. She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms to get comfortable when she dropped what she was doing to look at them properly. Then, after a moment, she smiled.

"You two haven't changed much; it is good to see you again." Tsunade said.

The men relaxed and walked up to her as a pair of chairs appeared in front of Tsunade's desk. "And you." Sasori said as they sat down together and looked happily at her.

"I heard Naruto got into a fight recently, he didn't course a lot of damage this time?" Kankuro asked.

"No, thankfully he contained himself." Tsunade said.

"I heard it was against the Kyuubi again." Sasori said.

"His family will always have a run in with the ancient Nine Tail Beast during Guard duty." Tsunade said as she smiled good naturedly. "It has a major grudge against Minato and anyone related to him. Naruto doesn't help by telling the demon he needs a 'senior citizen pass', he's just asking for trouble."

"I don't think he even knows the meaning of it." Kankuro said. "Gaara says he makes it a personal project to see how far he can piss off the Kyuubi till he bursts a blood vessel in his brain. Won't kill him but I doubt the Kyuubi will recover in a day."

"If Minato wasn't his father I very much doubt he'd be alive to this day." Tsunade said.

"Hmm, I also heard about Sakura's fight with Karin." Sasori said, looking concerned. "Was she alright after that? I heard Karin is very powerful."

"She surprising held her own against her." Tsunade said. "Didn't need to go to infirmary."

"That is surprising. I've seen how Karin fights and that sheriff has _no_ qualms in being a dirty fighter." Sasori said. "Or it could be because it's Sakura."

"Either way, it is the reason why you are here." Tsunade said.

"Tsunade-sama?" Kankuro said in a questioning tone.

"I presume you know about the missing reapers, yes?" Tsunade said and continued when they nodded, though looking unsure to where this was going. "We can not simply wait around to produce more reapers and I simply can not switch a lot of people to do certain jobs, it will course an upset balance. Do you remember what we used to do during the 'Black Death' incident?"

Kankuro looked slightly confused but Sasori knew what she was talking about. He cocked his head in an inquisitive fashion and frowned in interest and concern.

"You wish to make a human a reaper?" the redheaded man inquired.

"Sort of." Tsunade said with a nod.

"That is a tricky process and it's only for those who died more than once." Sasori said.

"How about dying in five different ways." Tsunade smirked.

"What?" the reincarnators chimed together.

"I have a human soul that had been stabbed, shot, suffered from broken bones, hypothermia and drowning." Tsunade said all so causally. "What do you say to that, gentlemen?"

"What God did he piss off?" Kankuro asked, stunned.

"One that must have a bad sense of humour." Tsunade said.

"Okay, okay, so he died five ways, that doesn't necessarily say he died more than once." Kankuro said.

"He also saw the reaper before she came to reap him and she wasn't even doing it on purpose. She was still in full reaper guise." Tsunade said.

"And by 'she' I'm guessing it's Sakura." Sasori said.

"Correct." Tsunade said. "I doubt she'd try to save him from Karin if they hadn't talked while he was dying."

The Reincarnators stared at her as if she had just renounced from drinking ever again. They knew the pinkette's attitude and personality and the thought of Sakura actually making conversation to a dying human and then protect that same human in a _very_ short period of time just seemed mindboggling. They looked at one another just to check if the other was hearing what they were hearing before looking back Tsunade.

"They bonded?" Kankuro asked.

The blonde woman shrugged nonchalantly. "In a sense, I've had to keep her busy, cover up any tracks that may lead her back to him. I rather not let Karin find out too." Tsunade said.

Kankuro looked at Sasori with a smug look and said "Told you it was over a guy." Sasori rolled his eyes at his younger peer, before they returned their attention to Tsunade waiting form.

"Anyway, which lead me back to you two. I need you to reinstall his soul in a body." Tsunade said.

Sasori tilted his head at her. "You don't have his _original_ body?"

"No, it's been on the bottom of the ocean for two days now." Tsunade said dryly.

Sasori frowned at her. "Do you remember the requirements that are needed?"

Tsunade frown copied the redhead's and asked "Can't you make a new one?"

"No, otherwise he'd be 'reincarnated' not 'reinstalled', and he'd be a newborn child: clumsy, no idea what is going, who he is, where he is, when or how he got there and above all shit scared. There would be no point." Sasori said. "Deidara can fix any body and replace any missing parts."

"I was hoping not to get him involved." Tsunade sighed.

"He also knows the process better than I do and, like I said, it is a tricky one so best to have _the_ best on it." Sasori said.

"Yes, and who's going to collect it?" Tsunade muttered.

* * *

"…and that's when she brought me in" Naruto said.

"Naruto, when did you get in?" Sakura asked

"'Bout ten minutes again, Tsunade-Baa-Chan can talk a _lot_."

"NARUTO!" Tsunade barked, hating the old nickname more than anything in the universe.

"Heh, like that scares me anymore. I've had the Shukaku snarling scarier at me than you have." Naruto sniggered then looked at Sakura. "You remember when I came in that other night? All wet?"

"Yeah, 'sand in places it should never be found' kind of sticks in my head." Sakura drawled.

"Heh" Sasuke said.

"Oh shut up! I was doing it for you!" Naruto growled at Sasuke.

* * *

_Two Days Ago_

A soaking wet Naruto carrying an equally soaking wet bag came trudging into plane that looked similar to Limbo but had greenery. There was this serenest about it that to the observer you couldn't help but feel calm from one look. The employees there stared at Naruto; they rarely ever saw a guard here. Naruto stopped by one of the employees.

"Yo, have you seen by chance Kankuro?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, he's in a meeting with Sasori-san and Deidara-san in Deidara-san's office." The employee said then Naruto started to walk off. "You may have to–wait! You can't go in!"

Naruto gestured to the bag he was carrying "Just here for a delivery, reaper had one major accident, kinda embarrassed about it. Hence the bag."

"Ah, okay. But wouldn't it be best to wait in the Infirmary?"

"Deidara is expecting me anyway."

"Well, okay, good luck" the employee said then went off with their business.

Naruto shook his head and headed straight to the office. The receptionist by the door, Kurotsuchi, a short raven head and pink eyed woman, watched him approach. She was slightly annoyed at his appearance as many would take great care with their looks before approaching Deidara's office. Naruto just couldn't give a hoot right now as he was THAT tired and THAT annoyed to have been given this job.

"Name?" She asked in a bored tone.

"Naruto." He grunted.

Her eyes widened at his reply. "Naruto, son of the Thunder…"

"Yeah, mind buzzing me in?"

The girl nodded and waved her hand at Deidara's office. Naruto strolled passed her and entered, allowing the door to close behind him. A blonde man with a long pony and sideway bang to the left side of his face. He was medium built, slightly shorter than Naruto but leaner than him. His visible eye contracted as he watched the other blonde man walking into his office along with Sasori and Kankuro who were already there with him.

"Naruto, you're late" Deidara said.

"I think any student of Kakashi would be." Sasori muttered in the corner.

It was only Kankuro who noticed his disarray and frowned at the faded marks on his arms and legs. "What happened to you?" Kankuro asked.

Naruto stared at him.

*.*.*

_*Two Hours ago*_

A lone masked Naruto was walking across a very dark space with only a weird looking torch guiding his way in one hand and in the other had a hefty looking bag. He swayed his torch one way then the other and spotted something up a head. He moved as quickly as he could and picked up the object in question. He then opens the bag and placed it along with the rest of the objects then close the bag up afterwards.

_Left arm: check_. Naruto thought _Hope that's all the correct pieces, or what's left really, otherwise the bastard may end up with someone else's foot_. He felt the water around him move, hundreds and hundreds of little deep dwelling fish dart past him. He gazed after them and frowned. _Huh_. Naruto thought then his frown deepened in concentration. _Wait._ _I know this. Why do I know this? Hmm. Wait. Why would a bunch of fish swim like they…are fleeing…from_… he turned to where they came from and came to face with an incoming squid.

As if by instinct he immediately had his torch point towards the surface and was shot up and off the ocean floor. The squid felt his movements and decide to go after the bigger prey. It's largest tentacle latched onto his foot. _And this is why I hate sushi._

*.*.*

"When collecting body parts underwater you tend to get wet." Naruto grunted and unzipped the bag.

Kankuro and Sasori looked carefully at the contents of the bag. "Mary Shelly has nothing on this." Kankuro muttered.

Deidara widened the opening of the bag to stare down at the pieces of human on the table. He looked at both Kankuro and Sasori then at Naruto.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me. I thought I was getting a full body here." Deidara said.

"Well, being on the bottom of the ocean for a couple of days would do that you. You know with the scavengers and stuff." Naruto drawled.

"This is just…a fucking mess." Deidara said and gestures to the torso. "Look! There are pieces missing!"

Sasori and Kankuro stared down at the torso and made a face simultaneously. During the times they had been reapers the human souls they reaped were usually whole. They were reincarnators now and the only time they ever saw a body open is if a woman was a having a C-section. So this was something they were rarely used to and _this_ just made _their_ insides crawl just a _little_ bit. And so they leaned away afterwards and looked back at Deidara who just seemed to be tsking about the torso.

"Oh, would you look at that. The bastard does have a heart." Naruto grunted as he looked down into the gapping hole of the chest of his roommate he, being a guard and sometimes reaper, was very used to these things.

Deidara lifted a torn off arm up and the flesh just seemed slip off the bone. He shook his head, as if a piece of art was just ruined. "How do you expect me to work with this?"

"Don't worry" Kankuro said as he picked up the other torn off arm and waved it. "I'll give you a hand." then chuckled at his pun.

Deidara stared at him for a moment, then backhanded the brunette man with the dead arm's hand he was holding. "Worse. Joke. Ever. Un."

"Look can you do this or not?" Naruto asked, very impatient.

Deidara sighed but nodded. "Tsunade better know what she is asking of me. I don't do this for humans, only reapers. I'm gonna have to fill in a load of blanks here and some reconstruction."

"Don't worry, she said she'll pay double for your service." Sasori said.

"WHAT! AND I HAD TO COLLECT THE PIECES! IN COLD, FREEZING _TEMPERATURES_ WITH AN UNBELIVEABLE AMOUNT OF _PRESSURE_ AGAINST MY SIDES! AND SAND _FOUND_ IN PLACES WHERE THEY SHOULD _NOT_ BE! AND SHE'S GIVING _YOU_ A MORE MONEY THAN ME? TO HELL WITH THE NICETIES! I'M GETTING MYSELF A RAISE!" Naruto roared before he trudged out of the room.

.

.

.

"Something tells me Tsunade is going to get the sake out tonight." Sasori dryly said.

* * *

"Oh gross! You collected his body! What about all the-ewwww!" Sakura said.

"I try not to think about the 'ew', but at least she wasn't making you go down there." Naruto said.

"No she was making me go after a gang of ghosts, mission 79."

"Damn, not even I would do that one"

"At least Sasuke's not my roommate."

"What is that suppose to mean?" Sasuke asked.

"I read you're life record. You know what that means."

"…hn."

* * *

Tsunade was walking along the training halls with Shizune and Deidara. Her mind was filled with serious thoughts and little bit of anxiety. She had deliberately broke rules for one human soul that could help in the future that may be one hell of a long shot as well. Her strides were long and strong and her accompanists were having a hard time keeping up with her judging from the huffing and puffing they were doing. It wasn't their fault, not many people could keep up with the Head of Limbo. She was practically as powerful as some of the deities and just as determined.

"Slow down you old shrew!" Deidara barked.

She stopped promptly and gave the blond one seriously scary look that had all the colour rushing out of Shizune's face. Deidara, however, was not bothered. He wasn't as powerful as her but he could move incredibly fast when need be. But lacked the brain to know he should not insult her at this moment and, so, he collided with the wall and went straight through it.

* * *

"Is it the thing around here? That you throw people about when you're angry?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know. Shall we try that theory out right now?" Tsunade said, looking at Sasuke in a distinct manner.

"Ignore him and continue please" Sakura said.

* * *

Deidara landed right in next to Sasuke and Kakashi. Teacher and pupil were in the middle of a lesson when that happened and it was only the student that looked surprised. Kakashi looked over to Tsunade as she entered the endless training room. Time moved fast here, months could go by and when they exit it would only be a few days. It was one of the reasons why it was built that way for reapers and other beings that may have permission to use such facilities. Reapers had to be in tip top condition but finding the time had always been a hassle.

"Bloody Hell woman!" Deidara barked as he pushed himself up from the floor. "Do you _not_ have any impulse control?"

"I'll get right on it after deducting your wages." Tsunade growled. Deidara knew she wouldn't though, as he had helped her a lot.

"Tsunade-sama is there a reason for your appearance?" Kakashi asked.

"Sasuke's presence is required. It is time." Tsunade said

"Really? Already?" Kakashi said.

"Yes, Deidara can do some really good work." Tsunade said, then looked at the blonde with annoyance. "When he can get off his lazy arse."

"I've seen the way you work, you hypocrite!" Deidara growled.

"DATTEBOYO!"

Sasuke was on the alert instantly as Naruto shot out of his hiding spot and right towards the raven haired man. However, when Naruto spotted Tsunade's glare he sort of froze awkwardly, despite continuously to travel across the air. This did not stop Sasuke from throwing a wide arch kick to Naruto's head when he was close enough, and sent the hypoactive blonde to the side. Sasuke was many things but 'happy to break Naruto's fall' was not one of them.

"Tch, Dobe." Sasuke grunted.

"Fuck! Teme that HURT!" Naruto growled.

"Stop landing on your head then." Sasuke said.

Naruto looked over to Kakashi with a pout. "Where the hell did the fear go?"

"Right around the time you opened your mouth." Kakashi said bluntly.

As Teacher, student and former student talked. Deidara glanced at Tsunade with disbelief. "Are all Kakashi's student's this exciting?"

"You should see Gai's latest apprentice. He's like a mini copy of him." Shizune said as she stood next Tsunade with just the same amount exasperation as her boss.

* * *

"Yeah, Lee can be such an overenthusiastic imitation of Gai. Fun to work with but hell when drunk."

"Stop interrupting, Naruto"

"Sorry Sakura-chan."

* * *

They were all huddled in a room later and were joined with Kankuro and Sasori that had been waiting for them to arrive. The reincarnators had been surprised that Naruto had joined as the last time they met he was going to have a word with Tsunade and they both knew how the blondes were to one another. In the centre of the clean room with metallic walls, was tabled with a sheet of white material covering a certain body. Sasuke couldn't help but think it was something out of a crime show or something of that genre.

"A side order of Dead Boy, anyone?" Naruto joked.

Deidara walked up to the table, pulled back the sheet and revealed Sasuke's body, thankfully all intact.

"I look different" Sasuke said.

"I had to remodel your body." Deidara said then added to Sasuke's weary look. "Don't worry, despite the limited time you have to do such things, you'll still be able to do all the things you liked before with it; boozing, partying, having fun with women. You'll just last longer if not indefinite un."

"So, you're what? A Mechanic?" Sasuke drawled; he liked his body the way it was before.

Deidara appeared very annoyed at him then glance towards the head of Limbo.

"Are all humans this charming or should I change jobs and work downstairs?" Deidara asked Tsunade.

"No just this one." Tsunade sighed.

"So, what did you do?" Sasuke asked curiously, looking at his restored and upgraded body.

"I had to flush out a load of toxins that had been building up from all the salt and the decaying flesh. Then repair or replace organs, tendons and muscles before stitching them up again. I had to replace many arteries, veins, capillaries and rewire many of your nerves and reflexes. Your bones and skin have been reinforced, because – like it or not – whatever job you may end up doing is going to involve something dangerous.  
"Now the thing you're going to like." Deidara said with a very happy smile. "When flushing out all the toxins I removed whatever blood that's left in your body and replaced it with pure reaper blood. That stuff will further enhance your body, so in a couple of day's time you'll be no different then any other reaper you work with. The only way they'll know you were human is if they test the blood as Tsunade had asked for these sorts calibrations. Meaning, you're still 'genetically' human even with the reaper blood. If it were up to me you'd have the whole shebang."

"You have done fine work Deidara, no a single scratch." Tsunade said as she peered carefully at the body.

"Or Tattoo, where did my tattoo go?" Sasuke asked as he looked over to where his shoulder met his neck.

"Oh _that_ thing? Dis_-gus-_ting. _Had_ to go." Deidara said, waving his hand off.

"I _liked_ it." Sasuke grunted.

"I didn't. Besides, it's an unlucky symbol. It attracts demons anyway." Deidara said.

Sasuke looked back at the spot where his tattoo had been in shock. Tsunade looked at Deidara with bewilderment and mouthed 'really?'. Deidara quickly answered by shaking his head no swiftly, which Tsunade then rolled her eyes at his immatureness. Deidara liked perfection and any blemishes or scares had to go, including tattoos. One of the reasons as to why some reapers didn't go to him for repairs, while many did as he was VERY good at his job.

"Right well, my work here is done. Have fun with the body kiddo and try not to mess it up so early. I've put too much time and effort into this so do me a favour and be careful with it." Deidara said. He looked at his fellow workers. "I'll see you two tomorrow, there's a full moon tomorrow night and you know how crazy that gets."

Then with that he saluted to Tsunade and walked out of the room through the exit. There was a moment's pause before Sasori took control of the situation.

"Sasuke we're going to need you by your head." Sasori said. Sasuke nodded and walked over to the top of his body. Kankuro and Sasori stood either side of him. "Okay. Let us all pray."

Everyone clasped their hands together except Sasuke who was bewildered by the motion. Slowly he placed his hands together but before he closed his eyes he heard a snort of laughter.

"Humans, so gullible." Kankuro said.

Then the reincarnators grabbed and flipped him over to then slam him down into the body. His soul glowed before it touched and melted into the skin till he disappeared within. Kankuro brushed his forefinger and middle-finger on both hands down Sasuke's forehead to his pelvis till his hands parted and brushed down to his toes.

"Yep, he's all in line." Kankuro said then looked at Sasori. "Start CPR."

* * *

"Okay, time out" Sakura said as she made the universal 'time out' sign with her hands and pointed at Sasuke obscurely "Sasori performed CPR on you. Meaning… mouth to…mouth?"

"Sasori did not perform CPR on me." Sasuke sigh, rubbing his forehead in irritation.

* * *

Sasori looked at Kankuro like he had lost his marbles. "Are you out of your friggin mind?"

"He needs the breath of life." Kankuro said way too innocently.

"He needs to be a girl and have a breathe mint first. He's been dead Kankuro." Sasori growled in irritation.

The redheaded man then raised his hand and slammed his formed fist down against Sasuke's chest, starting up his heart from the impact. His entire body jerked, flailing awake as Sasuke gasped in deeply like a newborn baby. His eyes flew open as if in shock while he continued to gasp and pant heavily the air into his lungs. Blood run up and down his body taking the oxygen to his organs, helping to clear away his momentary confusion. He felt a pressure against his shoulder and his looked up to see blurred figure of Kakashi grasping it gently, as if to calm his somehow.

Everything was confusing and foggy, but his blood was making fast work on clearing and sharpening his senses. Then it all clicked I one go. He remained still then as if by instinct he wiggled his fingers and made a fist. He could feel his nails digging into the palm of his hand and he smiled at the sensation, it was so much crisper then when he did not have a body. Then he wiggled his toes feeling the soft sheet that covered his near nakedness, thankfully Deidara had the decency to place some underwear on him.

"Seems everything is in working order, how do you feel?" Sasori asked.

"…a…ah…li-ve." Sasuke managed to say, his voice sore from being unused for so long, without thinking he raised his hand to his throat.

"That's natural don't worry." Kankuro said. "It's the same voice box you got just had to be repaired from all that saltwater."

"You're going to have to be careful though, you and your body have not been connected for a while so you're going to have to take it easy" Sasori said.

Sasuke kicked himself free from the covers before he swung his legs off to the side of the table. He hurled himself to his feet, and kept right on going. He slammed face first into the floor with an audible thud. Naruto couldn't stop the laughter pouring out of his mouth as Sasori gazed at the raven haired man for a moment then to Tsunade.

"Why is it that nobody ever listens to me?" Sasori asked.

Tsunade shrugged at the redhead before she looked at lazy reaper sensei in the corner reading his orange book. "Kakashi, please take him back to the time chamber and begin his second stage of training once he's in _full_ control of his body." Tsunade sighed

* * *

There was a silence in the room as Sakura contemplated for the things that had been said. She looked from Tsunade to Naruto to Kakashi and then finally Sasuke as they all waited for her reaction, before she looked back at Tsunade. Her lips pursed together as she frowned in concentration before she once again opened her mouth to speak.

"Okay that explains how he's alive, but why?" Sakura asked.

"The missing reapers." Tsunade said.

"Alright, an extra reaper, but that's not really going to help much. He's only one." Sakura said.

"He's not going to be a reaper. He's going to be our connection." Tsunade said.

"What?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"From Limbo to Earth, from Earth to Limbo. Sasuke is an international millionaire; his surname alone causes a lot of influences in the human world. It will be a very good cover up. To the human public he'll just be another playboy and with us he'll monitor what is going on down there with all his influences and connections. I very much doubt this being that's taking reapers will think of Sasuke as one." Tsunade said.

Sakura looked very doubtful; she couldn't see how this would work.

"He's not going to be able to do this by himself. That's a lot of manpower for one guy." Sakura said.

"You're volunteering?" Sasuke asked lightly.

"No." Sakura said bluntly. "I like my job as a reaper."

"That's actually not a bad idea to have you helping him." Tsunade said as she leaned back in her chair and rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

Sakura stared at Tsunade as if she had grown another head. "WHAT?"

The head honcho of Limbo shrugged lightly. "You're a powerful being Sakura, one exceptional reaper and very intelligent that you are almost on a par with Shikamaru. Almost. Sasuke is still quite new to this and he's going to need the help. Even Naruto is helping."

"I am?" Naruto said in confusion then Kakashi elbowed him in the gut to change his tone and agree. "Of _course_ I am."

"And Naruto was a student of Kakashi as you were and now Sasuke is his pupil. Won't you help your younger peer?" Tsunade continued undaunted.

Sakura stared at her boss then to Sasuke who was looking at her expectantly. She closed her eyes and turned away from him. This was going to be a pain in the butt, she just knew it. The pinkette reaper then opened her emerald eyes to stare at Tsunade again in annoyance.

"Fine, but lets make one thing clear. I do not take orders from my _younger peer_. I want to also continue my work as a reaper." Sakura said.

"Very well, I would need your help with other matters anyway." Tsunade said.

"And we need more than just four operatives here." Sakura said.

"Oh? And you think I can spare a few more than just four?" Tsunade said sarcastically.

"I'm treating it as an investigation. Considering none of us can put our full attention to it we're going to need more than just four people." Sakura said. "I am the brains. Naruto's the brawn. Kakashi is a combination of the two though may not be on the same degree."

"You wound me Sakura." Kakashi sighed dramatically.

"And you got a newbie who's playing face with the human public. You see my point?" Sakura said.

"Fine, I'll assemble others along for the merry ride." Tsunade grunted and took a swig of what's left in her bottle of sake. "Spoilt brat."

Sakura stuck her tongue out at Tsunade smugly.

"Well, seeing as this is all been settled I don't see why we shouldn't go out for ramen." Naruto said with a cheerful smile.

Sakura stood up from her chair and looked over to Naruto; her eyes looked at him in disbelief.

"I rather not have problems with my stomach tonight thank you very much." Sakura said. "Besides I got souls to deliver."

"Oh so you managed to get them all?" Naruto asked.

"Would I be here if I hadn't?" Sakura said, rolling her eyes at him. "Next time I would have liked a team, plane crashes are very difficult to do on your own."

"Who gave you that job" Tsunade said, her eyes narrowed in annoyance.

The pinkette gazed at the boss of Limbo with assurance.

"Tsunade-sama, it's fine. I dealt with it now. Which reminds me, when one of the souls I lost landed in a graveyard – that I collected in the end don't worry – I talked to one of the statues there." Sakura said.

"And?" Tsunade gently prodded.

"The gargoyles think something is up, that something is coming." Sakura said.

"And you believe it? Sakura, those gargoyles are a bunch of crackpots. They've gone all wacko when those humans started to pollute the atmosphere on earth. I wouldn't trust the information." Tsunade said.

"May I inject?" Sasuke said, finally after listening for so long. "If those gargoyles have been around for so long, and despite what pollution has done to their brains, I wouldn't take it lightly."

"Oh and you know better?" Tsunade said, almost flippantly.

"I know it's best to know what you can." Sasuke said.

"How very human" Tsunade drawled, and then her eyes looked at Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke pointedly. "Right you three, leave. I need a word with Sakura for a moment."

"Tsunade–sama" Kakashi began.

"Unless it is important and to do with the missing reapers speak. If not, leave." Tsunade said, her eyes taken on the fiery side of her temper.

They didn't need to be told twice. Sakura sighed and sat back down on her chair. As soon as they door closed behind them she looked impatiently at her boss.

"So in a way he's a reaper now." Sakura said.

"He has the power to be one." Tsunade said "He's talented too which begs the question, how come if he's a human soul?"

"Beats me" Sakura muttered. "You gave him the power. Why?"

"I told you." Tsunade said with a wile smile.

"Tsunade-_okasan_." Sakura sighed exasperatedly.

"I believe the reason why Sasuke was able to see you at the point of death was because either the nature of his death or his soul is very old. It may just be that Sasuke's soul has been through death so many times that it's starts to recognise something of it, the process, the reaper that comes along to collect it. Very unique considering that the reincarnators make sure that the soul is 100% pure. Not a single memory, habit or thoughts to ever return.  
"Yet the nature of his death is the Pentagram Death; the Five Point Demise. Stabbed, shot, broken bones, hypothermia and drowning. All that can be harmful if all done in certain ways and left untreated lethal. It has been heard of but never happened till now."

Sakura looked a little surprised at that. "So you did a little research?"

"Don't look so shock Sakura, I can do research and be very effective and efficient when need be." Tsunade grunted. "I trust you not to say anything to anyone. Only you as his reaper and Kakashi as his teacher know and I would like to keep it that way until we have further information."

"Why?" Sakura couldn't help but ask.

"You know the fate likes to screw us over, best not tempt her and let her reveal all in due time." Tsunade said.

_I hate fate._

* * *

When Sakura finally left Tsunade's office, Sasuke was leaning against the wall, waiting patiently. She had decided to get to the sorters as soon as possible but when he spotted her he pushed off from the wall to walk towards Sakura. She crossed her arms defensively and tilted her chin up almost aggressively as she stood her ground.

"Tsunade is busy now. Come to her later." Sakura said.

"You're her secretary now?" Sasuke teased.

"Shizune fills the role quite nicely."

"Hn."

"I got million of things to do right now, so what is it that you want Uchiha?"

"You remember my surname?"

"Photographic memory" Sakura said tapping against the side of her forehead. "So you better think carefully what you're going to say to me. Dead boy."

"Hn."

"Interesting. I'm off now."

Sakura manoeuvred about her way around Sasuke.

"…I'll see you tomorrow."

Sakura stood still for a moment then glanced over her shoulder to Sasuke. "Excuse me?"

"We're working now together; I think it's only fair I get to know you better."

Sakura snorted. "Yeah, good luck."

"You were a lot politer when we first met."

"You were alone, dying and able to see me, what else was there to do?"

"And you protected me from Karin, despite my nature."

Sakura licked her dry lip and really looked at him. "…you are increasingly getting on my nerves _human_. Don't test me."

He frowned at her. "What if I want to, _Reaper_?"

She chuckled. "Then I guess I should knock some sense into you." And she walked away.

* * *

**Eh, right, this was a very slow update. Two reasons. Writing up B.T.S.O.G and my life getting in the way again.**

**I'm not too sure when I'll be able to update BTSOG anytime soon, as inspiration isn't coming in plus there are just too many stories on vampires at the moment using the same plot line. Might leave it for a while till there's a 'cooling period' again.**

**As for my other stories, we'll see.**

**Shout out to **_sleepingdreamer08, Kenzie, Reignashii, FullMetalBec, JunJun1990, FuryanWarrior, Lady Rini, Appropriate Exclamation, HlorkexD, nightwish635, MichiiHaru-Chan, SasuSakuKawai, cowgirl137, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, DarkAngelRakell, xhyperanimefreakx _**and finally**_ Mizz Hime-Sama. _**Thanks for the reviews guys and I hope to hear what you think of this chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Don't grumble, give a whistle.**

**.**

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A sleeping man was lying down on his stomach in his bed. Despite where he was sleeping he felt at peace, dreaming a very pleasant dream. He was so at peace that he didn't sense his door opening. Nor did he sense a person walking into his own space, right up to him in such quiet grace that would be considered feline. The person took one look at him, grabbed the mattress and flung it up, sending the sleeping man off the bed and onto the floor with a thud. On impact he woke and bolted up right, while detangling himself he revealed he was wearing a simple white T-Shirt and navy blue boxers on. He then spotted his assailant looking at him in amusement.

"Rise and shine sleepy dead." Sakura chirped at Sasuke. "Naruto had let me in if you were wondering."

"Hn and you waking me up like that is because…?"

"I just found you annoying that moment. Tsunade-sama tells me to take you around, so you get a better understanding of what we're about."

"I guess I'm getting that wish after all." He grinned.

Sakura looked almost annoyed with him the smirked and suddenly he felt that he might need a helmet for this. Of course, he didn't know she couldn't lay one finger on him till he was _completely_ trained. But he didn't need to know that, now did he?

* * *

A half an hour later Sakura grabbed two coffees in both hands and had her bag of doughnuts underneath her underarms. She had grabbed them off the counter in her favourite place to have breakfast, juggled around with them for a better grip on the items and walked outside to a waiting Sasuke. He was leaning against a telephone with his eyes closed and arms crossed. His chin was resting against the top of his chest, allowing his hair to cover his handsome face. The pinkette reaper could see why, groups of human teenage girls and women were eyeing him up. She could distinctly feel they didn't like her when she approached him and handed him his coffee.

"Here, no sugar, no milk. As bitter as it comes" She said as she thrust it up to his face.

Sasuke slowly opened his eyes till they were half way opened and kept them there. He looked her and then at the cup before he took it from her grasp. He sniffed it and took a sip of the taste. The human reaper made a cute scrunched up face and looked at her as she was taking a sip of her own, cream and sugared up coffee. Sakura felt his gaze and looked back at him questioningly.

"Something wrong?"

He was looking a little hesitant then decided to be honest. "Coffee taste more bitter than I remember." She looked at him thoughtfully and he couldn't help but be a bit curious at her look. "What?"

"Humans have noticed that if they died but come back one or more of their five senses have changed, almost better you can say. I've read up on Human Reapers and nothing really change for them but maybe with a combination of that and Deidara's handy work you're a little different than most."

"You've been reading up on Human Reapers?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "It is required to have a little history about anything you do."

"_Do_?" Sasuke said with a very straight face, his amusement shimmering beneath the surface.

"Yes do." She said, looking a little confused at that but still confident in her answer.

"So, being a human reaper you would have to _do_ me."

"Yes"

He smirked at her and even more so at her very confused face.

_**Bubblegum, not to make you sound anymore stupid - cause really you are - but you have just agreed you'd fuck him.**_

At this her free hand shot out and grabbed Sasuke by the top of his shirt to pull him down till they were eyelevel. Sasuke looked amused at her as she gritted her teeth to control her vile temper. "Listen here Deadboy, you ever still wish to do _those_ kinds of _activities_ you better not try anything with me. Is that clear?"

Sasuke leaned a little closer till their noses nearly touched, still with his amused face in place. He was really playing with fire now as Sakura could barely keep a hold of herself from breaking his bone. She knew that Deidara would be pissed if she did that and Tsunade would make her do more ghost missions or (*shiver*) guard duty. Not mention the fact she had no idea what level Sasuke was on, so kicking his butt might create a _fancy_ show for the humans who were walking by.

"Crystal." He whispered.

Sakura twitched internally while Hakumei was bemused by this.

_**Well, he's got balls, I'd give him that.**_

_Not helping._

_**Was I supposed to be?**_

The pinkette then let him go and took a step back before she sipped her coffee again to calm herself. "I'm warning you Deadboy, don't test me."

"Hn."

She then turned off from him and started to walk down the street briskly. He pushed off from the telephone pole and followed her close behind, his longer legs helped sealing the distance between them. He watched her pull out a doughnut from the bag she had tucked beneath her underarm and began to munch it. He was then right beside her when he caught up and then had a fresh chocolate ring doughnut in front of him.

"Eat, trust me. You maybe part reaper now but that body still requires nutrients, particularly of the sugar kind." Sakura explained as Sasuke gingerly took the doughnut from her "Fruit would be good for you but you must eat some kind of sugary food."

"But I hate sweet foods." Sasuke muttered.

"You may feel different about it now with the new taste buds." Sakura said.

Sasuke reluctantly took a bite from it and pulled a face as he chewed it slowly, then swallowed it. She caught it and smirked.

"Get used to it Sasuke, you're going to be eating sweets for the rest of eternity."

"Wonderful" he then took a big bite out of it and chewed much quickly. He then took a sip of the coffee to swallow it down and found it wasn't so bad now there was mix of the bitter flavour of coffee and the sweet taste of the doughnut. "So where are we going now?"

"Graveyard, we're going to meet some pretty interesting characters." Sakura uttered, though didn't seem too keen on it.

* * *

"OI HERMIN! WHAT YA LOOK AT DAT! PINKY'S BACK, AND LOOK WHO SHE'S BROUGHT!"

Sakura and Sasuke teleported to the graveyard the had 'reunited'. Sakura was slightly annoyed that Sasuke managed to teleport closer to the graveyard than she had but had to let it go as they were on business. They walked to the church they needed to go to and stood right outside it's double archway doors. The were staring up to the five grotesque looking gargoyles and these gargoyles were looking back at them almost drunkenly. They came in all shapes and sizes but all had one thing in common. Despite all look damn ugly the weather and pollution had made look almost worn out.

"Gentlemen." Sakura said politely "You lot know something."

"Charlie! Do we kno' somethin'?" a large gargoyle asked

"COURSE NOT HERMIN! DEY'D THINK WE KEEP EVERYTHIN' FROM…THEM. Oi, boyo what da fuck are ya?" the smallest of the said as it leaned forward to get a closer look at him. "Ya smell reaper but ya look like Daffy Duck's half brother! What da fuck is wrong with ya hair? What? Couldn't get enough gel to cover up a bald patch or somehtin'?"

"Gel? I think he gave it Viagra!"

"AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the gargoyles laughed out heartily.

Sasuke blinked, Sakura had warned him they would be a rude bunch but he didn't think they'd be _that _rude! He felt a vain began to pulse of the temple of his forehead, not even Naruto could be _this_ infuriatingly rude. He even had been training with that guy for a solid 'month' in the training room and never completely lost his cool. Now, however, he was very close to.

"Gentlemen, we're getting off track here." Sakura said with a pressed smile, noticing Sasuke's rising temper.

"Ooooooh Pinky! We haven't even got on it!" The middle of the five said.

"Choo choo!"

"Rainbows!"

"Red and yellow and pink and green…wait a minute! You're a rainbow pinky! HA!"

"Oi Charlie, Pete, where'd ya put the scotch?"

"Not too sure Hermin! Try lookin up ya arse!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHA!" the gargoyles laughed together.

Sasuke leaned down when he calmed down and whispered to Sakura "Are they on crack?"

The pinkette looked up him then at the gargoyles in annoyance. "Acid rain isn't good for them, it erodes their minds away. They won't return to normal till they are completely destroyed, then and only then could they go into a new gargoyle statue. Usually the one that replaces it."

"So why don't you?" Sasuke asked.

"Because Lad" the second largest of them said, causing the pair to focus on it. The gargoyle looked like it had more self control than the rest as they laughed away that moment. "We are the beings that keep the boundaries between hell and earth apart. If we are not replaced soon enough, the area that we once were becomes a portal. An easy access from there to here. Our jobs were to protect humans from the evils. But we're no longer that strong anymore."

"We protect life." Another one said, as it became sober that moment. "Life has to continue to death and death continues with life. There is no ending."

"Yes we _know_ that." Sakura said getting a little impatient now. "What I want to _know_ is about: _why _there have been reapers kidnapped?"

The sober gargoyles looked at one another then back at Sakura. "The balance has been upset and some things in life are bad"

"They can really make you mad."

"Other things just make you swear and curse."

"When you're chewing on life's gristle."

"Don't grumble, give a whistle."

Then to the pair of reapers astonishment all the gargoyles whistled that moment and continued to sing the next lines.

"And this'll help things turn out for the best..."

"And...always look on the bright side of life..."

"Always look on the light side of life..."

Sakura slapped her hand into her face as the gargoyles continued to sing together, as she reminded herself that she was not going blast the church up. No matter how tempting it was she was not going to obliterate every single gargoyle in her wake. Her patience may be getting on the thin side now but she wasn't going annihilate the crackpot statues. No. Not one bit. Uh-uh.

_Ah jezz not even Kakashi-sensei would tolerate this, and he has oodles of patience._

_**When will they ever stop? Here's an idea, ground them down till you can make bread with them, disgusting tasting bread of cement but you get the idea.**_

…_shut up _

"So you lot generally have no idea." Sasuke said, taking Sakura out of her head as she listened. "May as well find another bunch of gargoyles."

The gargoyles all stopped and glared at him but Sasuke stood his ground.

"Ya won't be findin' anythin' else lad."

"And we can guarantee ya dat."

"And we can see righ' down to da bottom of dat heart of yours."

"And it ain't all good, ya hear us?"

"Oh I know that." Sasuke smirked "What else you got?"

"Cheeky bastard aren't ya? But dat tongue of yours won't be savin' ya when he comes for ya."

"Who?" Sasuke asked.

"Da one who's been grabbing da reapers, didn't one of you asked dat?"

"Yeah, but who would they be?" Sakura asked more persistently.

"DO WE LOOK LIKE WE'D KNO' DAT WOMAN!" the all roared together.

"We protect life. You guys help continue it. Dat's all we know. Now bugger off."

They all stood still in the seriousness of the situation and then the gargoyles laughed out loud again. Sakura shook her head in annoyance and walked away with Sasuke behind her. She was irritated beyond belief.

"Do you usually always give up like that?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura looked at him with a glare. "No, I don't. They told us someone powerful is taking advantage of their weakening power. In doing so they are able to target reapers. That's how this person is doing it."

"And you got that from just listening to that?" Sasuke said in disbelief.

Sakura looked amused at him. "You're the one who said to Tsunade-sama that we shouldn't take what they are saying lightly."

"Yes, I did. But how did you piece that one together?" Sasuke asked. "They spoke so…randomly."

Sakura shrugged. "You pick these things ups."

"Hn." Sasuke said though he didn't quite believe her. "So where are we heading?"

"Where else? Limbo."

"That's good. The statues were starting to freak me out a bit."

"Statues?"

"Yeah." He said looking towards them and gestured to them with his head.

Sakura followed his line of vision and frowned at that. He shouldn't be able to see them watching him in this early stage of training and it starting to annoy her. First he was able to teleport closer to the graveyard and now he could see the statues watching them. That really irritated her as she had to work really hard to control her powers and Sasuke seemed to be a natural with his.

"Yeah, sort of like those old paintings with the eyes following you around the room." Sakura said dryly.

"I'm serious."

She frowned at him as he looked at her almost alarmed that he could see them doing it. No, he was alarmed that he could see them watching them and yet remained so still, unlike the gargoyles they had come across.

"Wait, what _has_ Kakashi been teaching you?" Sakura asked.

"He's been teaching me how to fight with my new powers."

"So, no general knowledge of being a Reaper and the world that we live in?"

"He has, but only in bits and pieces."

Sakura jaw nearly dropped before she composed herself. "Wonderful, I guess have to educate you."

"Really now" Sasuke drawled.

"Yeah, how else are you going to survive in this world with just your fists, eh?" her eyebrows drew up in confusion from the smirk he was pulling now. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You show anger towards me yesterday but you are still willing to help me." He explained.

"Yeah, it's called being female."

"I think you like me Sakura" he said confidently.

"As if, you pompous womaniser!"

* * *

In taining room four Ino was ducking and diving out of the way as Sakura fought against her on the almost timeless grounds. Due to the irritation Sasuke managed to invoke in Sakura she was now taking it out on her friend. It was a very good thing Ino had a great sense of knowing when Sakura was charging up her punch or kicks otherwise she'd be in the infirmary by now.

"Sakura! Calm the–_wah_!" Ino dived out the way. "I thought you said – _shit, don't kill me!_ – You wanted to – _ah_! – Train with me!"

Ino rolled out of the way when Sakura jumped up into the air and slammed her charged up foot into the ground, missing her friend all together. The earth cracked and exploded up into atmosphere from that one powerful kick. It was a power that Sakura felt very proud of that she had full control of, one hundred percent all the time. No one was ever quite sure how powerful the young reaper was but one thing was certain, when she was mad, don't ever be on the receiving end. Shame the one person that she wanted to pound into the ground she couldn't as he was still not fully trained yet and it would be unfair. Moments later the debris settled when Sakura looked around for her friend, who was very much hiding from her now. Still, she could always get a kick out of annoying Ino too.

"I do Ino, you just haven't been training lately." Sakura said almost smugly.

"Are you saying I'm lazy forehead?" Ino shouted from a great distance.

That got her, the pinkette grinned knowing where she was. She spotted a nice shaped rock conveniently in that direction, when she turned towards it, in front of her. Very much like a footballer would with a ball; she ran towards it and kicked it into the desired direction.

Sakura smirked after it as she softly said "3…2…1…"

THUNK!

"YOU BITCH! THAT COULD HAVE HIT ME!"

"Good thing I wasn't aiming for you." Sakura chuckled.

"Funny. Really. Why do I have the feeling that you are upset with someone?"

Sakura happy mood suddenly slipped back to her annoyed state, albeit it wasn't as intense as it had been.

"Hmph."

"Ah, so I was right." Ino said as she appeared beside Sakura, though ready to dive out the way again.

Sakura crossed her arms when she turned towards her friend and popped her hip out in a challenging way. "What makes you think you are right?"

"Cause I know you Sakura." Ino said with a cocky smile. "I know you better than anyone you can think of."

"Hmph." Sakura frowned.

Ino relaxed her stance and gazed at her best friend in concern.

"What's wrong?" Ino asked.

Sakura sighed in frustration when she felt Ino placing a hand on her bicep out of sympathy and gave in. "I've been given this task to show a newbie the ropes around here and there." That wasn't a lie, she did have to show Sasuke what life was actually like in Limbo in case he got into a spot of trouble.

"A newbie huh?" Ino grinned at that and rubbed her chin with her free hand "Was it that guy you manhandled to Tsunade-sama's office?"

The pinkette reaper raised her eyebrows in surprise. "You saw that?"

"Wish I did, but some of the sorters saw you. What's his name?"

"Womaniser."

Ino stared at her for a moment before she cracked up laughing as an imagery of what went down between the two before Sakura decided to take the idiot to Tsunade. Ino was, however, not aware how far off she was to the truth. Yes Sakura did drag Sasuke to Tsunade but it was not to do with the comment he made, just that he was flesh and bone again.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me, no wonder you dragged him all the way to Tsunade's office." Ino chuckled.

"Hmph."

"So, uh, feel like drinking?"

"…what do you have in mind?"

* * *

When Sasuke walked through his brother's office, he saw the owner slumped over his desk pathetically. He spotted the empty bottles of sake near his brother's hand and frowned. Mentally tsking he walked silently over, removing anything that could further cause more harm to his brother's health, aka the alcohol.

"Sayuri, please leave me alone." Itachi said gloomily.

"I'm not your fiancé." Sasuke said.

Itachi froze entirely in that moment and looked up to see Sasuke standing there with an annoyed look. Itachi frowned in concentration for a moment, trying to see through fuzzy world of the drunk-side. The first thing that entered what that this person sounded like his brother. Which was impossible as his brother was, in fact, dead. Second was that this person had the same funky weird hairstyle as his late brother. Third and finally, now that foggy haze of the drunk-side was lifting, this person was doing the same expression his little brother would do whenever he called him…foolish. Then, the older Uchiha's brain registered what he was seeing was in fact there.

And for the first time in Sasuke's life he heard Itachi utter something that he didn't think would be a possibility.

.

.

.

.

.

.

"HOLY SHIT! OH FUCK! HOLY FUCKING HELL!" Itachi yelled, toppling off the chair and away from his brother who followed him.

Yes, Itachi wasn't the type to swear. In fact he never swore. NEVER. To hear him swear like there was no tomorrow stunned and amused Sasuke. He always remembered his brother _always_ saying that cursing isn't good for the soul. That it wasn't really necessary to. Sasuke had always thought that Itachi had taken a vow to never ever swear. So this was utterly priceless.

Itachi managed to get the desk between him and his brother. He grabbed his own bicep and squeezed down right until he couldn't take the pain his nails were inflicting on his quickly sobering mind. Itachi definitely knew he was awake and aware of what was happening but it was still surprising. Looking bewildered, he was torn from either giving his brother a bear hug or to run right out of the room. Instead he pointed at him with his forefinger as he couldn't believe his eyes. "You're…you're…you're…"

"Alive?" Sasuke supplied.

Next thing Sasuke knew he was on the floor with a throbbing cheek and Itachi grasping his fist in pain. The younger Uchiha blinked, he should have seen that coming as it was a surprising day today. Itachi, however, seemed to have worked through the pain – the alcohol still in his system even helping pretty well – as he shouted at his brother.

"You are definitely alive you arrogant fuck! What the hell is wrong with you? Couldn't bloody call?" Itachi yelled furiously.

Sasuke casually pushed himself up from the floor and dusted off the invisible dirt from his clothes "I was a little busy surviving at the time Itachi."

Itachi then calmed at this, he was always in tuned to his little brother's demeanour, and reframed back to his usual self to ask "What happened?".

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Sasuke said, rubbing his forehead and propped himself into the chair Itachi vacated earlier on.

"Try me." Itachi grunted, following Sasuke's example and sat down too.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Sasuke repeated.

"Sasuke, you are the head of your own _famous corporation_. People will ask questions." Itachi said, ridiculing his brother's answer.

"Then you found me in a room on the ship bleeding. I ask you not to get anyone as I was afraid my killer would track me but you got a Doctor who promised not to say anything to anyone. And you performed a risky blood transfusion to save my life. You then had the doctor smuggle me off the ship and have me recover somewhere safe." Sasuke said. "After all, I lost a lot of blood and could barely function or think clearly and you thought with the amount shots that had gone off there was an assassination on my life."

Itachi frowned at this as he leaned forward to rest his chin against the top of his entwined fingers while his elbows rest against the desk. "You want me to _lie_?"

"This is big Itachi. Bigger than me. Bigger than you. Bigger than this entire country. I can't tell you the truth right now but I'm counting on you to say that when the camera's roll." Sasuke said.

"Is it something illegal or may get us killed Sasuke?" Itachi asked. "Because I don't want to put Sayuri under anymore emotional stress. Do you know Father is trying to get her to sign a prenuptial agreement?"

"Wouldn't that be a good idea?" Sasuke said.

"It would be if I actually care about the company." Itachi said. Then added at Sasuke's frown "This was never what I wanted to do little brother."

"What did you wanted to do?" Sasuke asked, as his curiosity was peeked.

Itachi smiled at him "It does not matter now. What matter's is that you are alive and there is much planning we must do." Sasuke smiled back at him.

"Itachi, you didn't get rid of my dog, did you?" Sasuke suddenly asked when a thought came to him.

"No, Sayuri wanted to keep him for our future children. He's a good dog." Itachi said as he watched with amusement that Sasuke's face changed from concern to relief. "Why little brother, you actually care for another being that isn't part of the family?"

"Hn." Sasuke said looking annoyed at being teased about it. Truth to be told, he was glad the mutt was alive and well. If he hadn't showed compassion and cared for him he wouldn't be having this conversation with Itachi.

* * *

**I know it seems very out of character with Itachi but COME ON! He's lost his brother and then he shows up like nothing had happed. No sane, calm, stoic person (who'd been drinking a bit too) would react unemotionally. It's just not possible, okay?**

**Gah, this is shorter than my previous chapter, then again that one was more of an explaination of what was going on so *shrugs*.**

**Anway big shout out for:**

Cherryblossom **(**between these sh**?)**, DarkAngelRakell, Lia113, SasuSakuKawai, Eloise, anundecidedteen, HlorkexD, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, MichiiHaru-Chan, sleepingdreamer08, Lady Rini, Reignashii, cowgirl137, Sandwich-chan, xhyperanimefreakx, Mizz Hime-Sama, 87 **and finally** nightwish635. **YOU GUYS ROCK!**

**'Between the Shades of Grey' is still on hold for the moment as I'm still working out the kinks in the story but I shall be updating 'Spellcasters and Familiars' soon, so keep an eye out for that.**

**Thanks for the reviews guys. I hope you've all enjoyed the chapter so send me some feedback on it please? With cheery and sprinkles on top?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:** **Fine, PG, Absolutely Wonderful!**

**.**

**.**

**.**

Limbo was very busy the moment Sakura finished her shift. She waved off the old man, the last soul of the day, as he was escorted by an angel. The pink sunglasses she worn whenever she worked helped to stop the light those humanoid fireflies from burning out the retinas in her eyes. Not that she couldn't get Deidara to replace them its just prevention is better than cure and she preferred it that way. The soul that she collected was a good man; he may not have had a family and had been a bachelor forever but always done right and enjoyed life with good company. She liked those souls and when cuing he was lovely to talk to, shame he died from head trauma from the local thugs robbing him.

The rosette's left ear twitched at the sound of someone running. She looked over to that direction and glanced over her sunglasses to see Ino racing towards her. Collision was immanent, especially when Sakura decided not to move from her spot and when Ino crashed into her the poor blonde bounced off. Sakura chuckled at Ino when she half glared half pouted at her knowing Sakura had done that on purpose.

"Forehead, that was mean!" Ino grunted.

Sakura offered a hand and Ino took it, as she pulled her off the floor Sakura spoke. "You shouldn't think of me as a landing pad Pig."

"But you are so soft and squeegee!" Ino said.

"You haven't been drinking on the job, have you?" Sakura said with an eyebrow lifted suspicious of her friend's behaviour.

"Nah, just in a good mood that's all." Ino grinned, a smile so wide it looked plastered on her face.

The pink eyebrow rose higher, knowing that particular grin.

"Ino, what did you do?" Sakura asked, deadpan.

Ino deflated at that and looked awkwardly at her friend. "I may have accidently, not that there is anything _wrong_ with it, but, um, slept with…" and quietly said the last part. "…Shikamaru."

"YOU SLEPT WITH SHI–mmph!" Sakura said, finishing off with Ino's hand on her mouth to shut her up.

"Shh! Don't make such a big deal out of it Sakura!" Ino hissed before removing her hand.

"But you didn't even 'take off' on a relationship and now you've 'landed' in bed with him already. What is wrong with you?" Sakura hissed back and then her eyes narrowed in concentration for something.

"Sakura, please don't–"

"You weren't even drunk and you initiated it."

"Sakura, I told you to never SCAN me!"

"I can do whatever the hell I want" Sakura growled.

"And I can do _whomever_ the hell I want" Ino growled back.

.

.

.

The pair burst out laughing.

"Oh Ino, what am I going to do with you?" Sakura sighed.

"I don't know Sakura, it just happened. One moment we were chatting and laughing the next thing I know he's giving a whole new meaning to 'pistoning like a runaway freight train'." Ino said with a shrug.

Sakura looked like she didn't know what she should be feeling that moment; amused, shocked or down right revolted. After all, Shikamaru was the embodiment of the word 'Sloth' and to hear he became a 'runaway freight train' was a very hard thing to be any of the three emotions.

"Okay, too much information, Ino." Sakura drawled.

"Sorry, but you got to admit when I get nervous I spout stuff." Ino said.

"Hmm, maybe you should go into poetry" Sakura said with a smirk.

"Very funny. Anyway, I was hoping you could come with me to the sorting desk now that our shift is finished."

"Hmm, I have some time to kill, why not?" Sakura sighed.

They walked off to the direction of the Sorters entrance. After a moment or two of weaving in and out of the crowds in Limbo they arrived to their destination. Ino entered the door that allowed her to the sorting desk as Sakura followed. She reached her counter and began shift through the files while Sakura rest her back against the counter.

"So how long do you think you're going to be?" Sakura asked and began to clean her nails.

"Not to sure, this file is sort of moves on its own, for my own security." Ino said.

"Oh jeez" Sakura muttered when her forehead dropped into the palm of her hand in annoyance.

"It's an important one." Ino said.

The rosette straightened herself out after she rolled her eyes and let Ino get to business. As Ino got into her search around the desk and the file cabinets Sakura watched her passively. She knew she couldn't help Ino within her search as it would take as twice as long. When this type of file moved about independently it was best for the one that needed it to find it, as it would allow them to do so. After a few minutes of waiting around Sakura's eyes began to wander away from her friend and looked over to the distance. Her eyebrows shot up when she spotted someone familiar that was making his way through the crowd to their direction.

"Hey Ino, isn't that Shikamaru?" Sakura said while watching said man. Hearing no response she looked back to her friend and found her gone. She frowned at that, then bent down and found her friend beneath the counter. "What are you doing?"

"Um"

"_Ino_"

"Distract him!" Ino begged.

"And now you're hiding from him." Sakura muttered.

"Oh please please please please please please please please please please please please please please please pleeeeeeeeeeeeease!" Ino whined quietly.

"Fine, you moronic Pig!" Sakura whispered and stood up to see Shikamaru just as he approached the desk.

His face looked surprise to see her instead of Ino behind the counter. "Sakura."

"Shikamaru, how are you?" She said cheerfully.

"I'm good." He said as he looked slightly confused in a cute way. "What are you doing behind the Sorting Desk?"

"Just grabbing a file that'll help me in the future" Sakura said and leaned forward.

"Tch, I don't think humans would appreciate you being early for them."

There was snort beneath the desk as Ino tried to control her laughter. Both Sakura and Shikamaru looked down on the desk, not a second later Sakura started to laugh and trying to make it as natural as possible to cover Ino's blunder.

"Hahaha! Good one!" Sakura said and pointed at him. "You're a _funny_ man Shikamaru."

"…Right, are you sure you are okay?" Shikamaru asked.

"Positive but the file isn't for the humans, um, just a thing I have to do." Sakura said.

"Classified?"

"Yep." She gave him a dazzling smile as her eyes seemed to focus the way they did on Ino previously. "Say, Shika, what _are_ you doing here? You're not a Sorter or a Reaper."

"Ah, well, funny you should mention that…"

"You looking for a certain someone?"

He looked away and from her excellent sight she could see the telltale sign of a faint blush. A perfectly shaped pink eyebrow lifted as she looked at him knowingly.

"You looking for Ino?" She asked.

"Uh, why would you say that?" he asked hesitantly.

"Because this was Ino's working space" Sakura said as she watched her own forefinger make invisible shapes on the desk then back at him with a knowing look. "And you looked pretty stunned when I appeared."

He rolled his eyes. "Troublesome women."

"Go on Shika, ask me."

"You haven't seen Ino around have you?

"Oh she's around."

"A few of the Sorters said they saw you with her."

"Well she was with me for a bit till I had to go find the file."

"At her own desk?"

.

.

.

_Damn, they really don't give him enough credit on his observation skills._

"Ah, well, considering most Sorters don't even look at me or wish to spend more than a minute you can understand why the file was place here."

_Shanaroo! Beat that! _

"And I'm sure your sight is perfect to know you can not see her around us." Sakura said, tapping her forefinger against the desk now in a pointing gesture.

"Sakura, I know she's best friends with you. I need to speak to her." Shikamaru said softly.

That did it. He looked upset and how he pitched his voice had her heart go out to him. She knew from scanning him that he liked her but seeing him this way, looking a little vulnerable, made her want to help him. It was in her nature to help those in need.

"Shika she's…" she said in an understanding tone and then winced as there was a shot of pain when she spoke "_NEARBYYYY_!" Ino decided to squeeze the inside of her left thigh painfully in a way of _warning_ her friend not to give further details. Ino knew she'd cave if Shikamaru changed his demeanour to vulnerability; it always worked with Sakura because of her mother's side of the family.

"Are you okay?" Shikamaru asked at the clear expression of agony on her face.

"Fine, PG, absolutely wonderful!" Sakura said.

"You…sure?" he was still unconvinced as he watch trying not to hunch over the desk.

"Yep!" Sakura squeaked, making a fist to stop herself from giving into shouting profanities. Such words that would surely make Karin cringe, cover her ears and run for cover. She was that close too as the pain seemed course through every nerve ending.

He still didn't look convinced but relented, "Okay then I'll see you around." He didn't wish to do anything that was troublesome and Sakura was becoming more troublesome by the second.

As soon as Shikamaru was out of sight Sakura slammed her right foot into her friend. There was an audible yelp when Ino let go of her and Sakura started to rub the tender area vigorously as Ino removed herself from under the counter and was rubbing her stomach.

"You bitch that _hurt_ me!" Ino growled.

"How the hell do you think _I_ feel!" Sakura growled back.

"I'm sorry, but that was for your own good." Ino said.

"Gee, I hope your kids would feel the same way." Sakura sarcastically said.

"Hmph! Now, tell me, does he actually like me?" Ino asked now becoming all sweet.

"For nearly annihilating my glorious thigh I think its best you learn on your own!"

"But Sakura!"

"No! Don't even _TRY_ to weasel your way with me!"

"But! But!–" and to Ino's dismay, Sakura just vanished. "Woah, I keep on forgetting how fast she is" then got annoyance and thought, _that or she'll be in trouble for teleporting around here after her shift_.

* * *

After managing to get away from Ino, Sakura arrived at her apartment safe and sound. It was slightly drizzly outside and so her coat was a bit wet as she took the item off, as she entered her place. She hung the long black garment on the hook on her front door, and made her way to the living room with a newspaper underneath her arm. It had been a long busy day for her and she didn't have the time to read the newspaper during that time, like she sometimes would for a death to happen. Unknown to humans there was a few pages in the newspaper that only non-humans can see and read.

She dropped the newspaper on the coffee table and head to her open kitchen for a drink. Like humans, some reapers had the same way of relaxing after a long day at work and usually with an alcoholic beverage. Unfortunately for Sakura though her alcohol tolerance, be it magical or non-magical alcoholic drinks, was undeniably high enough to be called almost immune to the stuff. She never had a hang over or even had that feel good buzz for more than five minutes. The solution to her problem? Drinking it when Ino was around as the blonde could cheer her up like alcohol could except being healthier and less likely to get you in a fight.

Once she grabbed a drink, a glass of mango juice, she made her way back to the living room and sat in her reclining chair. She then grabbed her newspaper and rest it upon her lap as she began to read. Her eyes narrowed in concentration as she looked through, then sighed at the last page of the paper that she couldn't find anything new. Being a being that could read very fast was a very good way of saving time but then, was there much point of buying the newspaper?

Sakura then grabbed the remote on the coffee table as she replaced it with her now empty glass and turned the Television on. Unsurprising, the screen opened to the news channel that was left there this morning. To her surprise and annoyance, she listened to the news reporter telling the story of the reunited Uchiha's. The more she watched, the more she appeared to be irritated by this. Yet, Sakura didn't change the channel and continued listening to the footage. Exhaling noisily through her nose, she tried to control her temper from flaring up within her apartment.

_**Now, this is really annoying. How is it that the human that you rescued from her royal fashion disaster's clutches is a right pain in the butt with a major sized ego to match?**_

"Call it irony I guess." Sakura said.

_**Irony sucks.**_

"Hmph, and when did you finally decided to make your appearance?"

_**I never left Bubblegum**_

"Typical of you, y'know."

She heard the creature in her head laughed sharply; Sakura could feel Hakumei smirking dangerously when she stopped softly.

_**What can I say? I find it interesting when I see you just tripping over at the funny facts of life.**_

"Screw you." Sakura growled.

_**OH! Temper temper!**_

"One of these days I'm going to exorcise you from my mind."

_**Please do, I'd love to get my hands on the current Satan. Heard he's a cutie.**_

Sakura pulled a face. "You. Are. A. Freak."

_**So. Are. You.**_

She turned the TV off via the remote, placed it down on the coffee table and grabbed the empty glass. She then stood and walked towards the kitchen. It was in that moment that the rosette woman finally notices the post stick note on the kitchen door. She grabbed it off the door and read it swiftly.

_Sakura,_

_Naruto and I are already at Sasuke's home. Meet  
us there as soon as you read this. Be also in  
__reaper guise when you arrive. No doubt there will  
be human paparazzi crawling around the place  
and we rather be running a smooth operation  
without some incident._

_Kakashi._

Sakura let her head thump against the door. And here she thought she was going to have a nice relaxing afternoon without being the in presence of Sasuke.

Typical.

* * *

It had taken Sakura almost twenty minutes to locate Kakashi through sensing his aura signature, travel and arrive at Sasuke's home. She would have just teleported there if it wasn't for the fact she rather not even _be_ there. Sasuke lived in another city to where Sakura was based in the human world, so she couldn't use a car, bus or boat as there was a large river between the two. How did she get there then? The clouds parted when Sakura came down on what appeared to be a red surfer board with black cheery blossoms. There was black mould seemed to cover up and over Sakura's feet and calf muscle that secured her on the board. She looked like an imitation of the Silver Surfer, except with more clothes on and no sliver in sight.

As soon as she passed through the clouds she was a little irritated that her clothes became damp and then wet from the moisture in them. The rain finished off wetting her clothes before she could even put her reaper guise on to stop it, she never did like to put it on for journeys and forget at the last moment from these incidences. She frowned as she spotted the few annoying 'photographers' huddling around the gate and along some of the walls of the mansion.

_Wait, mansion?_

_**Yeah, dumb-dumb, he's a millionaire, of course he'll have a mansion!**_

_Yet, he lives with Naruto._

…_**You got a point there.**_

In less than two seconds she arrived at the front door, still on the board, and noticed that most of the curtains were drawn, including the ones by the front door. She was about to knock when she realised it would look stupid if Sasuke appears to open the door, talk to 'no one' and allow that 'no one' in. She debated about it a moment or two, just shrugged and seemed to…melt through the door as she proceeded forward. She turned her reaper guise off and looked around. She could sense Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke were definitely here and was a little surprise that she wasn't greeted by the door.

"Hello?"

There was a loud barking before what appeared to be crossed between a German Shepherd and Husky came charging through. The dog raced up to Sakura and continued to bark at her, like a dog would with a newcomer or, evidently, an intruder. To a human the sheer size of the animal and how aggressive it appeared to be would have sent them cowering in the corner. Not Sakura. She stood there and looked annoyed, mostly at the sound it was making.

"Hey Fido, calm down, I'm not going to hurt you."

Bark-bark! Bark-bark-bark-bark-bark! Bark-bark!

"I swear, not going to do anything"

Bark-bark-bark-bark-bark! Bark-bark! Bark-bark-bark-bark-bark!

"Okay caaaaaaaaaaaaalm down now."

Bark-bark! Bark-bark-bark-bark-bark! Bark-bark!

**...**_**BOO**_**.**

The dog froze for a second, like it sense something menacing from Sakura's eyes and ran off with his tail between his legs yelping all the way out to the living room at the back of the mansion.

_That was mean._

_**That **_**thing**_** was irritating me and you were being a pansy like always.**_

_I was handling it._

_**Well I got rid of it, so there!**_

Rolling her eyes at Hakumei immaturity, Sakura then walked off to where the team was in the living room. She wondered briefly why Sasuke or any of the others hadn't come to investigate why the dog was making such noises.

* * *

"I'm hungry bastard!" Naruto shouted as he plunked himself into the chair next to Sasuke.

"Hn."

There was a large screen in front of them with endless amount of information while Sasuke skimmed through it. From acquiring his reaper powers he was able to read and retain stuff at top speed. The problem was the computer was still translating the ancient language that Tsunade still insist on using with every file and would have been able to work three times as fast if it weren't for that. Kakashi was looking over the detailed report of the latest missing reaper, or really _three_ reapers went missing last night. No one knew except them, Tsunade and soon Sakura.

"Where's the damn ramen?"

"Up your arse"

"What did you say bastard!"

"You're very crass"

"What the hell does that mean?"

"You _are_ stupid."

"Tell me what it means and I'm not stupid!"

"Crass means _stupid_, Dobe."

"You bastard!"

There was a feminine cough that resounded in the room, gaining everyone's attention.

"I see the party has started without me." Sakura said.

"Ah, Sakura." Kakashi said as he made a nod to her in greeting.

"Kakashi-sensei." Sakura said with a nod of respect back before returning to rest of the group. "Did no one hear the dog barking?"

"Oh we all thought Snuzzuberry was barking at an intruder like the paparazzi" Naruto smiled.

"He's not called _Snuzzuberry_." Sasuke growled.

"Well, you got to call him something. Come to think of it, where did he wonder off to?"

"He's hiding behind Kakashi" Sasuke said, then glanced at the canine and became concerned. "What did you do to my dog?"

"I didn't do anything" Sakura said.

"You must have done something; I've never seen him act like that." Sasuke said.

Be unknown to all Kakashi quickly deduced what had happened and patted the poor mutt in a comforting gesture. He knew what Sakura's 'roommate' was like and he couldn't help but feel sorry for the little guy. Sad fact was he always found dogs more interesting than people and were always willing to make you happy, no matter what you done. That being said, he couldn't help but be dog lover anyway.

"He must have seen something he didn't like." Kakashi said then became all business. "Sakura, I expected you to be here early."

"Kakashi, I _wouldn't_ be talking."

"Never the less, your presence would have been appreciated if you arrived early." Kakashi said. "Three reapers have been taken last night."

"What?" Sakura said and walked up to Kakashi to collect the file from his hand.

"Sasuke and Naruto are going over any potential victims and I'm looking at the latest victims files" the oldest reaper continued and watched her read through ever piece of paper in the file.

She glanced back at her old sensei. "They are from all from old bloodlines."

"Mmm. This person is looking for power." Kakashi said.

"No, not power, purebloods. All of these reapers are descendants of _really_ old bloodlines with no traces of anything else." Sakura said. "He's going after 100% reapers."

"I guess you three are safe then" Kakashi muttered under his breath as he looked away solemnly.

"Ne ne Sakura-chan, you won't believe this! We've devised a plan to stop anymore reapers being taken or at least make it as difficult as possible." Naruto said.

"Ah yes. I forgot about this." Kakashi said as brightened up and smiled at Sakura, well as much as she could make out with his covered face. "Sasuke is going to help us out on our Gargoyle problem. He'll be sending out restoration teams to any of the guardian statues and fix them up."

"I read that gargoyles are classified as guardian statues. So, I'm putting some money into restoration of the gargoyles in the most worn down of churches and the guardian statues in the direst shrines too." Sasuke said. "I found some of the worst condition guardian statue and shall have them corrected. I've already sent out teams and donated sums of money to restoration charities specifically for these statues."

"Really?" Sakura looked actually surprised then.

"Yes, I read up a few things, from what I learnt about gargoyles I take it that they are not the only guardian statues in the world that act like them."

"That is true."

"With the money I make, restoring these beings back to there normal selves would ease our problem just a bit, and make whoever it is that's kidnapping the Reapers a little harder. It would also mean we would have more time to catch this guy."

Sakura nearly let her jaw dropped, that selfish bastard had…done something unselfishly? She quickly glanced outside just to check if the sky was raining fire. No, just ordinary water still.

"Wow, you really thought this one through." She muttered softly.

"Uh, Sakura-chan, are you alright?" Naruto asked, noticing her look.

"Yeah I'm fine." Sakura smiled at him.

"You sure? You sure you're not _hungry_?" Naruto asked.

"Oh for the love of—" Sasuke whirled around to Naruto and growled as his temper was really getting tested by the idiot. "Go to the damn kitchen and get something to eat!"

"But I want ramen and you don't have _any_." Naruto whined.

"Then _use_ those legs of yours and _find_ some in the _town_ you moron." Sasuke said.

"But teme you live in a city" Naruto said.

"The city was once several different villages and towns that merged into one to create it, the area that used to be towns and villages are still called that. This part of the city is called Cabot Town; the locals called it the Town for short." Sakura said patiently

"Ooooh! Thanks Sakura-chan, I forget how smart you are." Naruto said.

"If you actually pay attention you could be smart too." Sasuke snarked.

_Oh, there's his personality, I beginning to worry about it._

_**Haha, someone's getting catty.**_

"BASTARD!"

_Learnt from the best didn't I?_

_**Oh **_**mean**_**!**_

"Tch…idiot."

"Hmph!" Naruto said then looked at Sakura pleadingly. "Sakura, you mind go getting me some ramen?"

"Naruto, I just got myself out of the rain and now you're sending me back into it?" Sakura drawled.

"Aw c'mon Sakura not even for your fellow Hytake student?" Naruto whined.

"I wouldn't do it even if you got a car bonnet sticking out of your arse" Sakura grunted.

"Please please pleeeeeeeeeeeaaaassssse"

"No."

"But Maelstrom hates being summoned after shifts in Hell."

"Naruto, you realise he's just being lazy."

"Really?"

"Yah."

There was a puff of black and orange smoke around as a long sword appeared in Naruto's hand. The blonde began to yell at the sword, insulting it as it appeared to be a one-sided conversation completed with silent replies from the sword. It was weird. It was creepy. And Sasuke was just clueless about it.

"…_That's_ Maelstrom?" Sasuke managed to say.

"Yeah, Maelstrom's a weapon."

"Not a person?"

"…"

"…"

"…Kakashi, what have you been teaching him?"

"The basic's Sakura." Kakashi said, his eyes never leaving the file.

Sakura frowned and snatched the file from, only to feel something within the file. Her eyes narrowed and opened the file to see…"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU! WHY ARE YOU READING THIS _FILTH_!" holding the orange erotic book in Kakashi's face.

"Can't I do two things at once?" Kakashi casually asked.

Sakura's left eye twitched, the urge to kill him was strong but reframed from it. Too many witnesses anyway.

"Why were you my sensei? You're a complete pain in the arse!" the rosette said.

"A good teacher always is and if a student is all compliant then what's the point of teaching them?" Kakashi asked.

"And you just didn't bother to mention about the weapons that we use?"

"I have told him once he is ready we will get him one." Kakashi said as he took the book away from her grasp, in case she decided to burn it in front of him.

"Ah jeez!" Sakura said.

"Which thankfully he is, but I can't take him there."

"_Whhhhhyyy_?"

"Because I have been given a lead on earth to where this 'reapernapper' is"

"And I'm going with him" Naruto said, now resolved his fight with Maelstrom.

"Why does it sound like the two of you are just going?" Sakura asked.

"Because that's how it is. You and Sasuke are going to the Abyss." Kakashi said.

"Kakashi-sensei that's not fair!" Sakura whined.

"You are going because Sasuke will have no way of defending himself when you go to investigate a rumour of a missing reaper in hell."

"…Excuse me?" Sasuke said.

* * *

**Don't ever let someone pinch and squeeze down on your fleshy part of your body, it is unbelievably painful. I kid you not! **

**Anyway ****HUGE shout out for those who reviewed:** _autumn4real_**, **_gemaima11_**, **_Musik Drache_**, **_-Starry o.0_**, **_nightwish635_**, **_Lady Rini_**, **_C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only_**, **_DarkAngelRakell_**, **_cowgirl137_**, **_Akatsuki__Sakura__Uchiha_**, **_Reignashii_**, **_Lia113_**, **_Gothic__Lust_**, **_xhyperanimefreakx_**, **_MichiiHaru_**-**_Chan_**, **_anundecidedteen_**, **_falalahlalala _**and**_ Mizz Hime-Sama_**!**

**Thank you for reviewing guys! I just hope you like the new chapter!**

**M-V**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Galaxy far far away.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

"**I was thrilled and fascinated  
But somehow liberated  
When you took me to a place I'd never been  
You showed me lots of things I'd never seen"**

~ Katie Melua

**.**

**.**

**.**

The well known lobby doors to limbo opened as Sakura and Sasuke walked through. The raven haired man looked a little nervous towards the elevator as he followed Sakura towards its. When they approached it, Sakura pressed the button and the doors opened immediately. They entered the elevator and the doors shut behind them.

"You ready?" Sakura asked.

"Hn"

She reached out with her index finger and swiped down each row of numbers, from top to bottom. The numbers lit up, giving the surrounding metal plate a shine like no other.

"Hey, why did you press all the buttons? Isn't it going to jam the elevator by pressing all the buttons?" Sasuke asked in confusion.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at him and smiled at his naivety. "It would, if this was an ordinary Human contraption."

There was a sudden jolt and the next thing Sasuke knew a button appeared below the original elevator buttons. Sakura reached out with her index finger again but this time he noticed the slight mischievous in her eyes. He reached the handle bar next to him as she pressed the button and… he flew right into the wall behind him.

"What the f—!"

Sakura laughed as the elevator seemed to have just gone forwards before heading up and then right jerkily. He thought it was all over for a moment as the elevator continued going right and more smother… till it then shot down and made a loop de loop to its left and then a flip forward!

Right

SHARP LEFT!

.

.

.

Right

Up

Spin spin spin

.

.

.

Down

WAY Down

Roly poly!

UP!

.

.

.

Left

UP

DOWN

Left

.

.

.

Every turn it made, every possibility he thought it couldn't do, it did right before his eyes. By the time it all stop, the doors opened to reveal that Sasuke was flat on his face and sore all over while Sakura was smiling and on her feet. Slowly the human reaper got up from the floor and looked at Sakura, aggravated.

"Why didn't you warn me?" Sasuke snapped.

"Because Kakashi never did for Naruto or me" Sakura smirked at him to irritate him more. "And you shouldn't have the privilege when we didn't. Besides, every student goes through this, you are no different."

"You were on your face?" Sasuke growled but calmer now.

"_I_ was on my butt. _Naruto_ was knocked out against the doors then landed on his face when they opened."

Sasuke smirked when he heard that. "He was knocked out on his first go?"

"Actually his second" Sakura giggled at the memory. "He was accompanying Kakashi and I for _my_ trip here; he didn't quite get the landing right. On his first he landed on his face too, he seemed more embarrassed about his first go than his second."

Sasuke chuckled at the imagery of the idiot unconscious but what he did enjoy the most of it was Sakura's little laughter. It showed she wasn't such a bitch and can lighten up, if only she could be a bit more like this instead of 'prim and proper'. Then again he didn't mind her feisty attitude; he just wished she wasn't so…annoyingly uptight too.

"Now then, let's go." Sakura said as she stepped off the elevator.

"Hn"

When Sasuke finally took in his surroundings, as he followed Sakura from the elevator, he almost gaped at the sight. They were suspended in the atmosphere but seemed to standing on something invisible. Sakura smiled at the look he was sporting on his face and she knew it wasn't like any other place he'd been to.

"Welcome to the Abyss"

His eyes just drank in the sight of different colours of clouds that seemed to be in a vacuum of space with glowing pieces of lights scattered everywhere. It literally looked like he had step into a planetarium but no stage seats. This place was just so beautiful and he just couldn't believe a world like this existed just for weapons.

"This is where the Shards of the Ancients or the Weapon Spirits reside." Sakura said.

"Shards?"

"Yeah, there were beings that were so powerful that one thought from them could change reality into anything that pleased them. But like most beings with destructive tendencies and different opinions, they had a civil war. It was pretty intense, destroying everything and anything in their way. In laymen's terms they blew themselves up in the end." Sakura said and gestured to this universe "What you see now is what remains of their home. Utter nothing, the name just says it all."

"An abyss."

"Mmm. The Shards are just what's left of them; they are kind of like spectres and wraiths combined now, nothing like how they used to be. Some of them are intelligent to a degree but the rest… they really are just drifters. No conscience, no thought, just nothing but raw power and instinct." Sakura said. "We are the ones that give it back to them; we give these beings some semblance. They prefer it to whatever they have here." There was poof of black and red smoke around Sakura's right hand before she presented her weapon within its grasp in scythe mode. "This is Springtime."

"Springtime?"

"I was born the first day of spring. She didn't mind me calling her that, nor does she mind me calling a 'she' instead of an 'it'."

"Why do you give her a name?"

"Most of us do and they prefer it, they don't remember theirs"

"Do they talk?"

"Well, they can understand our language by instant transition but it would take months maybe years or even decades to understand theirs. It's made out of sounds, clicks and frequency, sort of like whales. But only you can hear it." Sakura said. "Every weapon is unique just like every person is; when you join you make a perfect picture from a puzzle."

"Why have them in the first place, when you can't understand them?"

"Well, they make teleportation easier through different dimensions, I mean you can't teleport here without them. Hence the elevator trip." She pointed with her thumb to the elevator behind her. "And the most obvious thing is that they protect you and act as a weapon." Sakura said "But from a bit of TLC and a lot of trust, a bond starts to form between you and this being. They would become whatever you need them to be."

Sakura let Springtime drop from her fingers and, before Sasuke's very eyes, the weapon morphed into a long surfboard without the fins beneath it as it just seemed to hover at knee height. He looked at it in amazement and then gazed at her.

"They can do that?"

"Only a few can transform like this, Naruto's included, some can transform into wings for those who need to get from one place to another without means of teleportation." Sakura said. "I prefer this way, I can think and it strengthens my bond with Springtime." She stepped onto the board and as soon as she did a black mould seemed to ooze up to cover Sakura's feet and calf muscle then solidified to secure her on. "When she does this I am physically and mentally connected to her, meaning I don't have to say a word out loud to direct her as she hears my thoughts."

_**And mine too, but hey no need to get all technical here.**_

_Shut up._

"Interesting" Sasuke said, looking at the board with a huge smile. The beautiful design of black cheery blossoms against a red surfer board made him wonder what his would look like. "Do they emanate us?"

"What?" She looked at what he was looking at, the design. "Oh, sometimes, depends on how much respect they have for their wielder or how much power the wielder has that every use to leaves a 'signature' on them till it's permanent. As you can see, cherry blossom design and my name is Sakura which means cherry blossom."

"So, does she have respect for you or are you just powerful?" He said as he slowly dragged his eyes off the board till they met hers.

There was a moment as the rosette kept direct eye contact with him, now on the board she was the same height as he was and it was so easy too. This was the first time that she could look at him properly without being aggravated, and smiled softly. "Depends upon your opinion of me"

"What do they say of you?" he asked quietly.

"You wouldn't like it." She said in an almost whisper.

"Hn, you won't allow me to know about you and say I wouldn't like it, but you know about me and say you don't like it." He said and leaned a little closer. "Something is wrong with that, wouldn't you agree?"

"You're wrong."

"How so?"

"I never said I didn't like your past."

His face softened at that then smirked. "Then why call me a womaniser?"

"What you rather be called 'Man-Whore'?"

"I don't have sex excessively."

"Sasuke, you do."

"I don't."

"Oh, so, what was it that I saw before you were being chased by angry husband?"

"Ah, now I can't help it if women throw themselves at me."

"Such an arrogant man, aren't you."

"And you happen to like this arrogant man."

"Oh really."

"Well, why else are you talking to me about my arrogant self and womanising ways when you should be teaching me all about weapons?"

Sakura blinked and felt her insides sink in embarrassment. Why had she gone off topic to _that_ topic and to top that why is she embarrassed about it? Thankfully she just smiled like it never mattered but she doubted Sasuke couldn't see through her façade that easily. After all he was a business man and what she had read from his human life he was finely tuned to weaknesses.

"You are just so easy to insult." Sakura simply said.

"Hn."

He didn't look like he was buying it but he relented and she was very grateful he was no long pressing the matter.

"Right, so weapons. You know the history, what they can do and now to get one." Sakura said, and then felt her face heated up in realisation. "Uh, hop…on."

He raised a perfect eyebrow. "You want me to climb on?"

"Usually the teacher would give the student their weapon to catch their own but we have no idea how long this would take and Springtime doesn't tolerate strangers for long. She actually turned on Kakashi after he held her for about five minutes."

"So she respects you and nobody else."

"Yes."

"So what makes you so sure she won't throw _me_ off?"

"Because I'll be with you till we're close enough to grab you weapon."

"Sounds promising but would it actually work?"

"Yes."

He stood on the board swirled till he was facing the same way her body was next to her and slightly behind her at the same time. Basically the inside of her left leg could brush along the inside of his right. He was too close to her this way and to her dismay he wrapped his arms around her waist. He murmured in her ear "As much as you trust her I don't." he then glanced down on the board as it covered up to his calf muscle the same black substance she had. "No offence Springtime."

Sakura didn't know if Springtime hummed in response or that she was shaking at the proximity. This was a bit too much for her but it had to be done. The board gradually went up into the atmosphere as it gathered speed and took off in another direction. No it had to be done as quickly as possible as she did not like having a male behind her and holding her at the same time. It was far too intimate and made her feel vulnerable, both she didn't handle well after…

_**Oh get over yourself pansy! What's done is done and you need to concentrate on the task at hand, or are you too damn chicken for an ounce of reaper human contact, huh?**_

The rosette shook her head internally and realised what Hakumei said, or really, what she was doing.

…_thanks._

_**Tch, next time fix your own problems!**_

Sakura smiled and let Springtime guide them to a hot spot.

"How would I know which weapon would be the right one?" Sasuke asked over the roar of the wind.

"You'd be the only one to hear it's song." Sakura said.

"_Song_?"

"You remember when I said they speak in 'sounds, clicks and frequency, sort of like whales'? I wasn't kidding on the whale part."

"And only I can hear it?"

"Yes"

"I can't hear it anything."

"Okay, which direction?"

"You're asking me?"

"You're the one that needs the weapon and I would have lent you Springtime if she wasn't so temperamental with newbie's."

"Fine, let's take a right."

"How about a wide spiral up anti-clockwise? It's how I found Springtime."

"I thought I was one that's giving directions?"

"I'm merely suggesting."

"Hn."

* * *

Ino glanced around Limbo checking for two things.

One if Shikamaru was around.

Two if _Sakura_ was around.

She had seen Shikamaru more than once around Limbo but not once with Sakura. Truth to be told she had NO idea what to say to him. He had been her long time crush that she learnt how to like him for he was and ended up caring for the guy deeply but never knew how to 'be herself' around him properly. They got to know each other better as Shikamaru was a student of Asuma and very close to his former teacher but still she had a problem of relaxing around him.

Heck, even Sakura, who had social problems, was laughing about it even when consoling her. She didn't want to know what Sakura's 'roommate' thought about it. She even tried having a conversation with it once. Needless to say Sakura ended up with black eye because Ino forgot that Sakura was talking for Hakumei and Ino ended up peeing blood for a couple of days because she made the mistake. How they were still friends was anyone's guess.

"Hi Ino"

"AHH!" the blonde shot behind a desk before looking over it carefully to see… "That is not funny Hinata."

The Hyuuga lifted an elegant eyebrow up at her. "All I did was say 'hi Ino'. What has gotten you so jumpy?"

"Nothing" Ino said quickly.

"Oh" Hinata said and cocked her head to the side. "Here I thought it may have been something you've done." Her eyes widened in surprise when Ino blushed. "Or should I say _someone_ you've done."

"It's not that big of a deal Hinata" Ino crossed her arms and popped her hips out in a mock of confidence, like she had nothing to hide.

"It seems to be with how you are acting quite childishly I might add" Hinata said nonchalantly. "You're even looking at me like you want to me to be in a galaxy far far away."

"You're quite irritating for a Hyuuga." Ino growled.

"And you are quite immature for a Yamaka." Hinata replied.

"Aren't you supposed to be nice?" Ino asked in annoyance.

"Only with people who are not cowards" Hinata said.

"I'm not a coward!"

"Really? Here I thought you were hiding from someone."

"I'm not hiding from anyone."

"Oh so you jumping with fright was just a fluke huh?"

"Exactly."

"Hmm" Hinata said then looked over Ino's shoulder. "All yours"

"Huh?" Ino said as she watched Hinata leave. She turned around and had to stop herself from crashing into someone, then looked up to see a pair of sharp dark chocolate eyes belonging to someone very familiar. "Oh fuck me." She murmured softly, her face taking on the 'deer caught in headlights' mode.

"Done that already" Shikamaru said with an amused smirk.

* * *

"That way!" Sasuke said, pointing to a direction.

Sakura grabbed a hold of Sasuke's arms and shot them forward before the jolt could cause him whiplash. She didn't care now that the top his chest pressed against her back and that his chin was against her shoulder. They had been at this for almost five hours and now that he found his weapon she was more than willing shoot like bullet to this damn being. Five long hours of changing directions, complaining at one another's lack of direction and just bickering, well, more like bickering borderline bantering. It did not help when Sasuke accidently brush against her whenever they changed direction and she would lose her concentration or temper.

Was it a little hard for a simple bit of space?

"Hurry up; we're going to lose it again." Sasuke said frustration.

"No we're not!" Sakura yelled and Springtime just accelerated, whatever this weapon was it was fast.

They both saw it at the same time, a cloud of indigo and violet lights propelling itself at an exceptional rate. Sakura had her doubts that Sasuke could catch this thing but then again Springtime was a bit of trickster too. They were nearly side by side with this being now and both Sasuke and Sakura grew excited at the prospect of finally get his prize.

"How do I get a hold of it?" Sasuke shouted, she had a feeling it wasn't do to with the speed that they were going at but the noise that weapon was making.

"Just reach out" Sakura said as she let go of him "and grab it!"

"Are you insane?"

"Trust me"

Sasuke closed his eyes, made a quick pray and lunged for it. Unfortunately, the sudden movement made Springtime spin out of control and accelerate downwards.

The rosette wanted to scream the amount of profanities and what she was going to do the 'moron' once this was over. Lucky for him she couldn't as she had to get the board under control. Hakumei had no problem yelling and screaming inside Sakura's head, giving the poor girl one tremendous headache while the spinning made her dizzy.

Spinning

Shouting

Spinning

Shouting

She didn't know if she could take it anymore till...

…they stopped.

Sakura looked around as her heart thundered up in her throat before let out a sigh in relief. Then elbowed Sasuke in the gut, HARD.

"GCK!" Sasuke went and rubbed his stomach. "What the hell was that for?"

Sakura faced him and growled. "You idiot! I said 'reach' not 'pounce' for the damn thing!"

"I got it didn't I?"

The rosette glanced down to his hand, there it was wiggling for escape, was Sasuke's weapon in it's raw form. It was both beautiful and, judging at how many lights it had, very strong too. He had done well to catch it, but she wished he hadn't been _that_ eager to leave her a little nauseated. She took a deep breath to compose herself before she looked at him again. He looked happy at his achievement though still annoyed that she elbowed him.

"I guess you did but next time, _don't_ do that. I hate spinning around like fairest wheel on speed." Sakura said calmly

"Ah." Sasuke said then looked at his weapon. "What now?"

"Tell it to become a Scythe of Reapers." Sakura said then added. "And ask it nicely and _away_ from me."

Sasuke smirked at her stretched his arm away from her and looked at it. "Become a Scythe of Reapers…please." He could see the thing in his hand hesitate for a moment then changed into a wooden staff, nothing like a scythe.

"Ah, I was afraid of this." Sakura muttered. The human reaper looked at her questionably and answered his mental question. "He wants to annoy you so you would let go."

"I thought you said they prefer to be our weapons."

"They do, but it happens to be a restless one. Add some power, like you're about to teleport but to your hands."

"You mean add Chakra?"

"Ah, so Kakashi has been teaching you something after all. Yes chakra, place it against it's staff form gently but firmly and ask again"

"Become a Scythe of Reapers" Sasuke said as he reached into himself place chakra against the weapon. He frowned as he heard it whine in his head. "Hey, you want to play around with me? I have more patience than you can imagine." He heard the whine again but higher with a few clicks. "Become a Scythe of Reapers now please"

There was a moment.

Sasuke waited.

Sakura looked annoyed with the weapon.

The weapon was motionless then changed into a scythe. A completely blank, black scythe with no designs on it what so ever but the blade itself was extraordinarily sharp.

"Well…it's a start" Sakura said "Better than my friend's one when she first started out and she's from generations of Reapers. What will happen over time is the scythe will evolve into something more intricate. For now it's just a blank canvas."

"Hn" Sasuke said as he brushed his hand over the flat of the blade in wonderment that he managed to do such a feat. He looked at Sakura with a smile. "What now?"

"Now? Now we give you two a bonding session." Sakura grinned.

Somehow Sasuke knew he shouldn't trust that grin.

* * *

A pair of grimy old doors burst open when Sasuke collided against them, cursing along he went. He landed into the worn out wall behind him before bouncing off it and hit the floor, right next to Sakura who was leaning against conveniently next the empty fireplace. There was an audible laughter that shortly followed when he crouched over, slightly in pain but mostly annoyed of the blasted things. They were both in, you guessed it, an old house that happened to haunted.

"So…how did it go?" Sakura sing song to him.

"When you said bonding session I really wasn't thinking of this" Sasuke said while he got off from the floor and looked around.

"Of course not, you were probably thinking maybe of the father and son stuff or something I don't even wish to say out loud" Sakura drawled and rolled her eyes at him then became a little more serious but relaxed. "Despite all that, the strongest bonding session is when in battle you have to rely on one another and since I can't take you down to hell without a bit of practice this will have to do."

He looked at her with annoyance "And because of that you can get to be la-ZZZZZZZZZZZYYYYYYYYYYY"

"Pay attention womaniser, these guys are sneaky." Sakura giggled as she watched Sasuke being thrown around the room.

"How come they're not…" Sasuke made a swipe with his scythe, managing to catch one and then land into an old dusty couch in heap, "…urh…going after you?" he finished.

"It's very much like the relationship between the mongoose and the cobra."

"Explain, please." Sasuke asked looking confused while keeping an eye out as he got up.

"Despite having a deadly concoction of venom the cobra can only focus on one opponent or prey at a time, plus they rather flee than deal with said opponent to conserve their venom. And if the mongoose has a full belly it won't go after the cobra." Sakura explained. "You're the mongoose with an empty belly and they're the cobras that now have to deal with their predator."

"And what are you?"

"The mongoose with a full belly."

"Hn, figures."

Sasuke spotted another ghost and lunged towards it with a speed that was inhuman, but easily seen by Sakura as the rosette watched the display. She had to admit he was a fast learner and the longer he was using his scythe the more she could see it change, just a little though. Only with someone with her eyes could see the subtle differences. The scythe looked healthier and lighter as Sasuke swung and hit another ghost, allowing the blade to absorb the spiritual being.

She also noticed he was being careful and creative whenever he moved, using the momentum as he did. It wasn't as refined as hers movements but he was definitely catching up. Sakura was enjoying watching the show when saw what he was about to do when the ghost went through the wall. Her eyes widened as she saw him lift the scythe up and swung towards the place the ghost went through.

"SASUKE DON'T!" Sakura yelled.

There was a bright light that seemed to run through the human reaper's body when he hit the wall and into a live wire. If there was one thing Sakura knew about catching ghosts was never attempt to catch them when they go through a wall. Not only do you have to be 'solid' when catching them you do not know what's behind the wall or _in_ the wall when catching. Sakura cringed at how painful it must be before Sasuke was thrown into the wall behind. He blinked then stood and looked at her.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked with some concern.

"I just been electrocuted and it didn't hurt." Sasuke said like it was the oddest thing in the world, which it was. "In fact, I feel great."

Sakura stared at him then looked down as she rubbed the top of her nose irritation. "You lucky bastard" she muttered.

"Excuse me?"

"You're immune to electricity and any form of electrical attacks." Sakura explained. "Most reapers bounce back more or less than ten seconds because of the slight pain and lose of muscle control. Only a few reapers are _immune_ to that degree, including Kakashi. He's going to be over the moon when he hears this."

"Why?"

"Because of his immunity to the bloody thing he specialises in electrical attacks and defence. It's a major pain in the butt to deal with if you're the enemy."

"I see and you're not?"

"None of us is that lucky. So be glad your human side didn't win out on this one, otherwise you'd be twitching on the floor." Sakura said as she glanced down at her watch and read 00:03. She looked over to see some of the ghosts huddling in the corner for another plan of attack. "Aren't you supposed to be catching something?"

He glanced over to see what she was looking at and smiled the ghosts could be seen more clearly now. It was going to be easy to catch them, especially when they were all huddled like that. He crouched down and sprang into action, poising his scythe for the attack. Only to find another ghost got a hold of his ankle swung him away from the group and into the kitchen. Sakura continued to smile as she watched Sasuke be thrown from one room to another. Oh, she'll watch over him for Kakashi alright, she will very much _watch_. Her smile grew as she heard the curses that seemed to spew from his lips. Yep, life was good.

**

* * *

**

This had taken me quite a bit of time to do. Mainly cause I have the next chapter almost done and wasn't too sure how to write on this one out. Reason as to why it is shorter than the other chapters. However, I hope you guys like it!

**Big shout to (drum roll please!):** Mizz Hime-Sama**,** anundecidedteen**, **Gothic Lust, evil purple kat chan**,** Akatsuki Sakura Uchiha**,** Lady Rini**,** C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only**,** cowgirl137**,** gemaima11**,** MichiiHaru-Chan**,** HlorkexD**,** FullMetalBec**,** nightwish635**,** Sandwich-chan**,** autumn4real **and** shvesta**!**

**Thank you so much for your reviews and I hope to hear what you guys think of this chapter, even if it is a bit of a wimpy one *sigh*.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Not even in hell.**

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"**When she walks she walks with passion  
When she talks, she talks like she can handle it  
When she asks for something boy she means it  
Even if you never ever seen it"**

~ Nelly Furtado

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"Kakashi-sensei, you're place is a tip. When was the last time you cleaned?" Naruto said as he entered the apartment of his former sensei. Eyeing the place as the Silver haired reaper was looking through book after book. Naruto then turned to watch his former teacher looked up from a particular book with surprise.

"How did you find this place?" Kakashi asked, a little surprised that someone was able to find his home when he was always such a secretive man, even with his students.

The actual room they were in was cluttered with scrolls, books and junk from every century you could think of. It was obvious that Kakashi only spent time there when he needed to eat or sleep. The rest of his time would be spent either working, training or…Naruto actually know what Kakashi got up to when he wasn't working, training, eating or sleeping. It was like the man just didn't know what _real_ fun meant. He and Sakura use to have long talking sessions about it after her lessons but could never get to the bottom of it.

"Hey, it may have taken me a while to find but I did."

"About fifty years I would think"

"I'm not that old, nor that stupid, okay? I do have some smarts from my Dad after all."

"How is he by the way?"

"He and Mum are thinking of having a new baby." Naruto looked quite delighted at the thought of a possible baby brother or sister, though he rather it be another boy. He'd hate to have a sister that turned out to be a lot like his mum, very scary when mad.

Kakashi eyes crinkled at the thought happily. "Well, they at least your mum would know not to drop this one."

"HEY!"

"Heh, you know I'm joking Naruto"

"Hmph! Thought so."

"It was your Dad."

"…You are really pushing it ya know."

"But you make it so easy."

"Hmph. What are you looking for anyway?"

"Well, as Sakura said this person is going for old reaper families I'm going through the old accounts to see if there are connections between each of these families. So far: no luck."

"What about the stuff on Gargoyles?"

"What about it?"

"Well, if there was a weakness to the power would they go through the area that's at it's weakest? Wouldn't the Gargoyles see something?"

"I thought of that already and already crossed reference to the weakest points to where the reapers went missing."

"And?"

"Most of them match, some of them don't."

"Then really he's lying in wait and when he sense a reaper by themselves he goes after them"

He watched his old sensei nod in agreement to that logic. "That is a good assumption but there's a problem with that."

"What?"

"Why go for Reapers? We're not easy to catch."

"Seems to be with this guy."

"And we really have no purpose than to collect souls for demons and angels, our blood is powerful but has little use for anyone that might want to use it. Demonic and Angelic blood is exceptionally powerful, especially the upper level ones or, to be precise, _royalty_. You can do lots damage with any parts with them, except us."

"Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said looking confused.

"Ah, sorry Naruto, I was just thinking out loud."

"Nah, don't worry. Besides Tsunade-ba-chan-sama wishes to see us before we go and investigate the new lead, that last one was pain."

"Hmm, well, at least we know to call them through their estrange cousins from now on."

"Heh."

* * *

After the third ring of the door bell the pinkette reaper started to tap her foot against the hard floor. From yesterdays escapades she decided to be a bit nice and let him off for one day, chances of finding missing reapers in Hell was pretty good anyway. However, she really couldn't be bothered to be here as she wasn't the teacher nor does she like being one. But a job was a job and Sasuke had better get a move on. She could feel Hakumei pacing up and down in her mind, getting just as restless as she was.

_**What the hell is taking that wanker so long?**_

_Not a clue, humans have always been time wasters._

She heard Hakumei growled, very annoyed at the situation.

_**I swear on all that is unholy, I will maim him if does not come out in five minute.**_

_You can't do squat._

_**Watch me Bubblegum.**_

Sakura rolled her eyes. There was a click and the door started to open, giving Sakura some relief of the boredom. "About time Sasu—" and her eyes zeroed in on his top half naked body "—ke".

_**HOLY FUCKING JESUS, LOOK AT THOSE ABS!**_

_Oh get a grip Hakumei!_

_**I think I will!**_

_That's not what I meant…_

Her eyes flicked up to see his amused ones. He looked like he had just finished showering and just managed to find a pair of trousers to answer the door.

"See something you like?" Sasuke smirked.

_**Yeah baby, but come a little closer and I'll show you what I **_**really**_** like.**_

Sakura gave him a sarcastic smile. "Put some clothes on dead boy, no one wants to see that." She said as she entered the apartment without much thought.

Her eyes scanned the tidy room while he closed the door behind her and then he head toward his bedroom. She looked over to his retreating from and watched him for a moment before her eyes settled on his well sculptured butt. Her head tilted slightly in admiration then looked away to reframe herself.

_Got to admit, that human does have a nice arse._

_**Hear, hear!**_

"Sasuke, I'm curious." Sakura said loudly for him to hear through the door when she heard it closed behind him. "What are you still doing at Naruto's apartment when you have a mansion?"

"Tsunade's orders" was the muffled reply.

"So you're not going sleep in your own home?"

"It's until I graduate, even then Naruto has already installed a door from his place to mine."

"I see."

"Would you like one too?" he opened the door again and walked out of his room with his uniform on. He straightened out his shirt almost tantalisingly, like he knew she was watching but she knew otherwise. The man could make putting on clothes very sexy and he wouldn't know it.

"Rather not have Naruto gallivanting around my home" Sakura said, knowing it wasn't Naruto's place he'd been hinting about.

"Ah" he smirked.

_**STOP MAKING GOOGLY EYES AT THE NEWBIE AND LET'S GO ALREADY! I'M GETTING TIRED OF WAITING AROUND HERE!**_

"C'mon, don't have all the time in the world" Sakura sighed_ Jeez, you really have no patience and I wasn't going all _googly eyes_ on him!_

_**Yeah, keep telling yourself that.**_

_Shut. UP!_

* * *

They were both standing on an empty street together with the edge of the pavement in front of them. Sakura was leaning against a lamppost while reading today's newspaper as Sasuke drank his coffee, no longer able to take it without sugar now. The human reaper looked up and down the dark street. They had teleported to a different part of the world and now standing on a foreign street at night. If he was still human he would be very worried right about now.

"Why are we just standing here?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura paused in her reading and sighed as she pointed up at the sign behind them. "Can't you read the sign?"

Sasuke glanced up to it then back at her. "Six One Six Terra Cotya Street. What's that got to do with anything?"

"The devil's number." Sakura said as she continued to read.

"No that's Six Six Six." Sasuke said.

Sakura chuckled. "Whatever you say Sasuke, but this is the spot to go to hell."

"And why can't we use the elevator?" Sasuke asked.

"Because the elevator leads to the gates and takes longer to bypass, which reminds me" Sakura said and closed her newspaper. She placed a free hand into her pocket and pulled out a card. "Keep this on you on all times" she handed the card to him "You don't want to be stuck down there."

"Hn" he took the card from her grasp and looked over it carefully.

"I mean it Sasuke; souls have better times down there than reapers."

His head shot up to look at her in surprise. "Excuse me?"

"Demons like to fight Sasuke and if you give them the excuse they will, anything that proves to be a challenge _will_ have their attention." Sakura pointed out to him. "So don't ever lose that card when you are down there and make sure it is somewhere where they won't be able to pickpocket it off you. If you don't have it they'll say you are an intruder and you must be taken immediately. Even then, don't let them touch it, they'll destroy it before your eyes and take you."

"And why am I being taken down there again?" Sasuke drawled, placing the card into a secret pocket of his coat.

"Don't worry, there hasn't been an undergraduate taken before, mostly because their sensei is there to watch out for them." Sakura said.

"Okay but you still haven't answered my question" Sasuke grunted.

"Which is?" Sakura asked.

"Why are we standing here?"

SHUUUUUUUUUUUUUME!

Sasuke looked back at the street to see a burnt and rusty looking bus roll right in front them to stop with a soft screech. There was a hiss of air and the doors opened to reveal a man sitting in the driver's both with long green spiky hair, blue eyes and pinkish skin wearing a dirty looking shirt that had the AC/DC logo on the front.

"Little Dudette" the driver said with a smile.

"Hey Junior" Sakura said as she walked up the steps and into the bus with Sasuke behind her.

"I told you not to call me that, Little Dudette." The man said.

"Well, I'm not _little_ anymore" Sakura said.

"True true, who's he?" Junior said nodding towards Sasuke.

"Kakashi's new student" Sakura said.

"Ooooh! Been hearing he had a new one," Junior said then turned to Sasuke. "Did she give you the break down on the demons?"

"Not to trust them" Sasuke said.

"Good good my man!" Junior said then relaxed back into his seat. "Your card, please, safety protocol after all." Sasuke pulled it out and showed it him "Good, you guys may sit down" then added at Sasuke's look when he glanced towards Sakura as he placed the card back "Little Dudette here doesn't need one."

Sakura led Sasuke to the middle of the buss and sat in the nearest seat with him next to her. The buss then drove off from the side and accelerated down the street into the night.

"You don't need one?" Sasuke said.

"I have a permit Sasuke. Sometimes I'm down there for long assignments."

"Why?"

"Do you remember when you asked me what other jobs a reaper does?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, Reapers or Guards sometimes act as an angelic representative for those who made contracts with demons. Or try to get the reapers that are stuck in hell out of there. The latte is usually my job" Sakura said.

"Do they think you're not Lawyer material?" Sasuke asked with a chuckle.

"Something like that" Sakura muttered.

_**Yeah, Lawyers don't literally pulverize the opposition**_

_That only happened the one time Hakumei, I can't help it when a demon pisses me off to the point where I can't control my actions!_

_**But still as funny as hell**_

"I've got a question for you." Sasuke said.

"Shoot." Sakura shrugged as she spoke.

"If you're usually down there shouldn't you be a lot…pinker?" Sasuke asked.

"Oh, cause the hair is not enough" Sakura sarcastically said with a smirk.

"That's not what I meant" Sasuke rolled his eyes. "It's supposed to be hot in hell right? Almost hot enough to burn you."

"Yes Hell is _hot_, Hells Fire is the source of all the heat but to be fair it'll only make you uncomfortable, like you've just step out in the hot sun and you were already hot. You won't go pink though."

"What about burns?"

"Oh you will be burnt if you put your hand in the fire. _That_ goes without saying."

"Obviously."

The bus swerved a little as the surroundings outside changed as it began to blur. The cityscape became urban villages till there was nothing but countryside. The world became darker, showing nothing but the billions of stars above.

"Hold on" Sakura said.

Sasuke immediately grabbed the bar in front of him as he asked. "Why?"

"We're about to go over a cliff" Sakura said as she leaned back into her seat and braced her feet against the seat in front of them, to her amusement Sasuke copied her.

As predicted, he felt the bus dramatically began to arch downwards as the tires spun while in mid-air. She could feel Sasuke tense next to her as he saw the ground coming closer and closer. Sasuke braced himself for the impact and closed his eyes. It was after a moment when he knew the bus must have hit the ground he reopened his eyes and saw they were in a tunnel, on a steep road.

"Relax, think _rollercoaster_" Sakura suggested.

"This whole damn thing is" Sasuke grunted.

"Awe, is my underling _stressed_ _out_ of his mind _again_?" Sakura said with a mocking smile.

Sasuke gave her one look that spelt it all out for her and she couldn't help but giggle. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves he then asked "Why did the bus go over that cliff anyway?"

The rosette reaper shrugged. "Deadman's Cliff, so many accidental deaths and suicides make the best entrances for the bus to hell."

They exited the tunnel that moment and Sasuke saw why the place would be terrible to end up in. It looked like a fiery wasteland teeming with volcanic eruption and demons everywhere. All shapes, sizes, colour, furred, scaly, mixed, some flying, some crawling or slithering were there. Then the souls he could see being gathered up for something that he probably didn't want to know what for. He was glad he was saved by Sakura otherwise he'd be among the hordes of those poor souls.

"So… just the one Hell?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes and no, there are nine planes of Hell that are wrapped in one." Sakura said. "Some worse than others."

"Okay name 'em."

"All the planes?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I really don't like talking about Hell but I know a few things. Each plane, aka 'Ring of Hell', has its own Sheriffs and Master. The Sheriffs are usually the offspring's of the Master's as it's best to keep power within the family. Plane one does not have either. That is the place where the guards dwell; we went pass that while on the bus. The guards are there essentially to keep the demons in.  
"There are only a few demons that are aloud to go by and those are Sheriffs. Sheriffs are the ones that make the contracts with stupid humans, you know the whole 'we'll give you what you want and in exchange we'll have you're soul' deal. The unfortunate bugger thinks they're off scot free because they believe Hell doesn't exist. Then, poof they are sent straight down here without a Reaper taking their soul first to Limbo when they die. And believe me they try to get out of it but 99% of the time they can't because once they sign that's it."

"Someone should stop them." Sasuke said.

"Are you kidding me? If they are stupid enough to sign a contract without reading it first then they deserve to down here. Besides the angels upstairs do the same thing along those lines except without contracts. Each side is constantly influencing Earth, but that's it, they _influence_. They mustn't do anything that would place them in direct association otherwise they will loose thousands of souls and they shall be reincarnated."

"But–"

"Sasuke, if they did not influence the human world there wouldn't be much point of its existence. If you could not see the choices in life, what is the point of living? Both sides have an obligation to show that there is good and there is bad. But it would be your own choice as to what you want to be."

"I see."

"Hmm, anyway, as I was saying the Sheriffs are usually the ones that do all the collecting of the souls but some would make their minions do it."

"We're here!" Junior shouted at the front as the bus stopped.

Sasuke and Sakura stood and walked away from their seat and up to the front of the bus. As soon as they were at the front of the bus the doors opened to reveal the world of Hell. The heat instantly hit them once they stepped off the bus and Sasuke couldn't help but agree with Sakura. The heat was _uncomfortable_. It was a wonder why reapers or guards ever came down here in the first place. He glanced at Sakura and found she wasn't even flinching from it all. He watched as she turned to Junior and thanked him for the ride before the bus door closed and the strange automobile went off its way. The rosette then glanced back at him and frowned at his look.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"_How_ are you _okay_ in this _heat_?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura smirked at him and started to walk down a pathway "_Heat_ doesn't affect me Sasuke, not even in Hell."

"You could have told me" Sasuke muttered as he followed her.

"And that would make a difference to you, how?"

"Well, it would explain why you are able to be down here for 'long durations' as you so wonderfully put it."

"Oh jeez, look at you, only five seconds down here and you're already cranky as a nine month pregnant woman without chocolate. Hot weather not your thing, huh?"

"Hn"

"C'mon snowball, let's go. The sooner we find out what's happened to those Reapers the faster we can get out of here."

"Hmm, I spy with my red eyes…" Both Sasuke and Sakura stopped and turned to see a giant fox looking down at them with a vicious smile. "…Something to do with food."

* * *

A pair of golden amber eyes peered down into a microscope at a knife that was being held, shifting to different positions. The eyes narrowed and the owner of them leaned away to look at her assistant that just she walked through the door.

"Anything?" Tsunade asked.

"I could say the same to you." Shizune said, "All I know it's not a ceremonial knife nor is it used for cooking with."

"It's a Kukrithame, one that is used by royal angelic guards." Tsunade said

"Say what?" Shizune said and walked up to her to get a better look at it.

Tsunade presented the knife to her assistant; she showed the handle clearly to her. "See the engraving of the handle? It's an old model of the latest one. Without a shard."

"But that would mean it's over a thousand years old." Shizune said.

"Yes, and not a lot of them either." Tsunade said.

It was in that moment that an exuberant blonde man bounced in with his silver haired sensei reading a questioning book trailing behind him. "Hey Tsunade-ba-chan!" the blonde man looked happily Tsunade

"Naruto, how many times have I explained to you to never call me that!" Tsunade growled.

"Heh, not too sure boss-sama" Naruto grinned.

Tsunade rolled her eyes and closed her eyes to take a deep breath. She calmed and opened them again to Kakashi patient ones. "You're in time. We may have a traitor on our hands."

"Excuse me?" Kakashi said in surprise.

"This weapon was used by one who had access to angelic weaponry." Tsunade said and placed the blade down.

"I think that's a little off Tsunade-sama." Kakashi said.

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked.

"The Black-market, you shouldn't forget about that." Naruto pointed out for Kakashi, the blonde may be a bit of an idiot at times but he did know his stuff when it came to goods from seedy places.

"Hmm, that is a possibility." Tsunade said. "And that would make sense as the essence around the knife is demonic."

"WHAT!" Shizune and Naruto said together.

"You think whoever it is they are trying to confuse us?" Kakashi asked.

"No doubt, I can't imagine an Angel would try and kidnap several reapers, _one_ I'd understand if they fell in love with them and then tried to force them to love them back and demons I would definitely understand with more than one, they are a bunch of fickle cruel creatures but know better to kill one of us. We would also have had word from either side, but all of this is happening on earth. From what Sakura's uncovered, they are doing it through the Gargoyle's lacking their usual strength and that's really bugging me."

"Kakashi-sensei and I believe that this bastard is using it for a doorway and then lies in wait for a reaper to come along, very much like a spider with a web." Naruto said, "Kakashi-sensei mentioned about reapers being useless for ingredients for certain ritual and such."

"Hmm. That is interesting to bring up Kakashi" Tsunade said, glancing over to Kakashi with a serious look. "Because Reapers maybe useless in _most_ rituals but not _all_." She then looked to at her assistant. "Shizune, we're going to have to look into the vault."

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune said with a look that was slightly scared.

"We're going to be _reading_." Tsunade said.

"But Tsunade-sama it's forbidden to—"

"It's for forbidden for anyone _else_ other than _myself_, it's just your lucky day Shizune"

"Oh"

Tsunade looked at Naruto and Kakashi. "Go find some clues around the places of the most recent kidnappings and don't hold anything back."

"Yes Tsunade-sama" Naruto and Kakashi said together and both bowed before leaving the room.

* * *

Sakura and Sasuke stared up at the demon before them.

"This is bad." Sakura uttered under her breath.

"You don't say." Sasuke drawled.

The demon before them was not like any other demon in it Hell. It was simply a huge sinister auburn fox with black markings streaking across it's eyes through to it's ears and black markings upon it's lips. Sasuke just couldn't get over the fact that this demon was enormous.

Massive.

Gigantic.

It was just…_huge_. And with that predatory smile they knew that it spelt BIG trouble.

"No, I mean _bad_ Sasuke, this is the _Kyuubi_"

"Oh. Damn" Sasuke said with acknowledgement of the situation, and then looked at her "Run?"

With the one nod from Sakura they both turned and bolted for it. Sakura grabbed Sasuke and jumped when one of the large furry tails slammed down in front of them. However in mid flight another tail came and whooped them back where they were before they ran. Sakura took most of the blow, shielding Sasuke from it only to land on him when they were forced back down to the ground. And landing on muscles that were hard as steel did not help either, she believed the ground would have been softer.

"And where do you think you're going, meat?" Kyuubi growled.

Due to head trauma and lack of a functioning brain that moment Sakura couldn't help but utter "I find it kind of demeaning to be called that"

One look could describe what Sasuke was thinking when he heard her say that and it was along the lines of 'ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR FREAKING MIND WOMAN!' but cruder than the vocabulary of a Marine Marshal. He then turned to watch the Kyuubi stare down at them and inspect his potential meal. "You, I know you."

"Me?" Sasuke said with confusion.

"Not you, you Chicken Ass Hair boy." Kyuubi snarled.

"How original" Sasuke grumbled beneath his breath.

"You" Kyuubi said as he indicated Sakura with the tip of it's very sharp claw. "I know _you_. You're a friend of that damn _brat_"

The rosette reaper raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Not to sound uh…rude here…but…" Sakura said while she got up very slowly and cautiously as she kept her eyes on the Kyuubi. "…You're going to have to be a little more…_specific_ than that."

"You KNOW who I am talking about"

"Not really, I got a ton of friends who—"

"NARUTO!"

"Ooooh _that_ friend," Sakura said and then gestured around herself "well as you can see he's not _here_."

It happened so fast she didn't see it coming. One moment she was looking up at the Kyuubi, the next she was looking directly into one of it's menacing red eyes. She was literally 'eye to eyes' with the demon when it decided to get a closer look at her and intimidate her simultaneously. The rosette reaper could help it, her eyebrows resigned up to her hairline with surprise, but nothing gave away her fear. Not even her scent as she damn well made sure of it by keeping her heart calm and think calming thoughts. It helped even more when Sasuke stood up behind her, waiting for her orders to either fight with her or hightail it out of there with her. Either way he wasn't going to leave her side, even if he was still a newbie.

"Do not make me out as a fool, little girl." The Kyuubi growled.

Sakura pulled a face. "I am not little and in retrospect I'd be taller than you if we were to have the same width in bones structure and density."

The Kyuubi smirked at her. "You have guts _little girl_, what is your name so I would give your _remains_ to your family."

"How _sweet_ of you" Sakura said through a grim smile.

It was quiet between them for a moment before the Kyuubi became impatient with her and asked "Are you going to tell me where the brat is?"

"Um…ask again later?"

Sasuke grabbed Sakura when she uttered those words and pulled her back to him, almost protectively but in warning as he kept his eyes on Kyuubi. "Don't _bullshit_ around; he has a mean temper from what Naruto told me all about him!" Sasuke hissed at Sakura under his breath.

The eye of the Kyuubi flicked onto Sasuke's form at that, the human reaper barely controlled his flinch when that happened. "He also has exceptional hearing" Sakura said through her fixed smile to Sasuke. The rosette reaper tilted her head towards Sasuke in a mocking playful manner while controlling her irritation and disbelief he would mention their friend's name in a sentence like that. Really? Couldn't the human be even more obvious than that? Was it even possible for that to even happen?

"Where is that brat?" Kyuubi growled lowly.

"Not here." Sakura said.

The raven haired reaper noticed something different about her now. It was almost if she wasn't afraid or something. It was odd as about five minutes ago they tried to flee from the nine tailed beast and now she was standing her ground against a powerful foe. He didn't know if she was brave, crazy, stupid or all three.

"You lie!" Kyuubi shouted.

"Okay he is here" Sakura said flippantly, "Can we go now?"

Both reapers jumped in different directions to get out of the way when the Kyuubi slammed his paw down to where they had been. The earth shook momentarily but it was enough to bring to there attention that the Kyuubi was now through with playing games. It wanted answers and it wanted it now, and since both reapers knew Naruto killing one of them wouldn't be a problem.

Sasuke watched in horror when Kyuubi focused his attention on Sakura. It hunched over like a menacing wolf and as if to reconstruct a certain scene from a fairytale it literally began to suck in a load of air. The air when static as power coursed right into the Kyuubi's mouth and just when things couldn't get worse an inferno of chakra blasted right at the girl like a dragon upon a damsel. Sasuke wanted to scream but the shock to see Sakura being engulfed by the flames stopped him from crying out.

He thought she was a powerful being, that she could have dodged it but there was no sign that she had. No sign of pink hair, her face smirking or her mocking the very being that hated Naruto so much. When the last part of the breath exited the Kyuubi's lungs, he saw the damaged it had done. The earth around hell had melted and seemed to smoke and steam from the intense heat. What stunned him the most was the fact the Kyuubi didn't look pleased at what was achieved. Instead it was focused and annoyed. Sasuke slowly look a little further down than to where Sakura had been.

"OH COME _ON_! I JUST _GOT_ THESE CLOTHES!"

There she was.

ALIVE!

Annoyed as hell, but ALIVE!

He had to blink _hard_. Not once but TWICE just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. She was standing there, her clothes burnt and barely still clinging to her body from the Kyuubi's attack and there wasn't a single mark on her skin. All Sasuke could think right that moment was how the fuck did she manage that one?

"…_Heat doesn't affect me Sasuke, not even in Hell…"_

He frowned at the memory. Did this include fire as well? Did she have an immunity towards fire like he was immune to electricity? His trail of thoughts was halted when the Kyuubi began to walk towards Sakura.

"Tell me where that brat is!" Kyuubi snarled.

"What? You got accustomed to his face?" Sakura taunted.

"Tell me!" Kyuubi roared.

Sakura eyes flicked with anger and her weapon appeared in an instant. She slammed the bottom of her scythe against the solid ground, shattered the earth with her power. It was enough to still Kyuubi from further advancing towards her.

"Listen here you overgrown orange piece of fluff!" Sakura said with deadly calm manner that belayed her action seconds ago. "I have no qualm with you. Why would I lie?"

"You are his friend" Kyuubi growled. "You would be completely loyal to him and lie for him."

"Yes that is true, but you are forgetting something. Naruto is a guard down here. Meaning: he's by the border of the last gate, he wouldn't wonder here." Sakura said.

The Kyuubi then smirked maliciously looking at her intentionally. "Hmm, then I better leave him a present."

"And then what? I hardly see the point of killing me or least maiming me to spite him."

"But he cares for you, does he not?"

"And guess who does too Kyuubi? You wanted to know my name? It's Sakura Haruno." Sakura watched as Kyuubi froze at the name, his face became blank but there was acknowledgement and wariness in his eyes. "That's right big guy, I may not be as powerful as you but there are others out there that would not hesitate to squish you like a bug if you try to harm me. And that includes Mr Chicken Butt Hair."

The Gigantic Nine Tailed Beast bared his dangerously sharp teeth in frustration. She could see it was thinking it over very carefully before it turned and left swiftly from the scene. It was only after a moment when the demon was gone did Sakura let out a breath of relief. No doubt if the Kyuubi decided to kill her she'd be crushed under its paw. Yes she was powerful, but there was only so much she could do.

It was in that moment that Sasuke skidded down the crater to her with concern. When he was within reach he grabbed the upper part of her arms and checked her over.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked with confusion and annoyance.

"Checking if you are okay." Sasuke said as he did so.

"Well, what's the prognosis doctor?" Sakura said softly and smirked.

_**Did you just…?**_

_Shut up! I'm still female and I had just had the Kyuubi nearly killing me! I am entitled for some insanity!_

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, as his eyes twinkled in amusement. "I could do a thorough check if you like."

"If _only_ we had to the time to" Sakura bounced back with.

She then skipped off like nothing of what happened between them moments ago had ever occurred. Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance and followed her. He knew she was just playing with his womaniser side and he couldn't say he didn't like it. In fact, he could say she was softening up.

It also helped that forty-three percent of her clothes had been burnt away leaving some nice creamy flesh for him to see.

**

* * *

**

Sorry for the lateness guys. Having some family trouble that involves my brother being a complete idiot and keeping a job at the same time is really tiresome. Anyway, big shout out to:

_Kaydreams**,** LaughsRFun**,** nightwish635**,** HlorkexD**, **Gothic Lust**,** MichiiHaru-Chan**, **sleepingdreamer08**, **Emily Nash**, **gemaima11**, **Mizz Hime-Sama**,** Akatsuki Sakura Uchiha**, **Lady Rini**, **C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only_** and finally **_Reignashii_**. Such lovely people and hope you've enjoyed the chapter so far and I hope to find out what everyone thinks of this one.**

**Thanks again!**


	11. Chapter 11

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Chapter 11: Into the Lion's Den.

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"**You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look at fear in the face."**  
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

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It had been three quarters of an hour since Sasuke and Sakura encountered the Kyuubi. They were walking up a hill upon Sakura's insistence. In fact they had been walking all the way to there mysterious destination. Why? So that if Sasuke ever got stuck down there he would know a way out in case he was not able to teleport himself out. When Sasuke and Sakura finally made it over that very hill the male reaper was genuinely surprised at what he saw.

"There's a garden in hell?" Sasuke said

"The owner like's her fragrances" Sakura said.

"And she is?"

"Karin."

"Okay. Goodbye." Sasuke said as he made a turn to go back.

Sasuke didn't even make one step when Sakura stopped him by grabbing the scruff of his collar quickly. "And _where_ do you think _you_ are going?"

"Away from that psycho" Sasuke said like it was the most obvious thing in the world as he pointed towards the garden.

"I never thought you to be a coward Deadboy" Sakura said.

"I'm not, but I rather not _be_ around Karin."

"Neither do I, but Karin happens to be the sheriff on this ring of Hell and the friendliest _in _Hell."

"…Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not"

"I thought you don't like her."

"I _hate_ her Sasuke."

"Then why are we going to be talking to her?"

"Being a Sheriff in hell would give you better access to everything, including information. And like I said before she happens to be the _friendliest_ sheriff there is in Hell, the _rest_ would most likely try something you _wouldn't_ like."

"But _why_ her?"

"To investigate each ring you need to inform the sheriff, Karin happens to be this ring's sheriff"

"…"

"…"

"…couldn't we just skip it?"

"No, besides I don't see the big deal it is for you."

"No big deal? That demon tried to drag me down here and the way she was looking at me…"

"Sasuke, you were just a soul then. She gives that look to every good looking soul she collects. She won't remember you."

"Excuse me?"

Sakura sighed and pinched the top of her nose to keep her cool. "Karin never really looks at a soul in the eye; she feels she is above them no matter what they look like." Then glanced back at him when she felt she was under control "Because there has also been a period of time she won't recognise you. Names and places are what she's good at."

"You sure?"

"Positive. By the way, don't get too close to her."

"Not that I was planning to, but why?" Sasuke said and frowned.

"She's part succubus."

"What's that?"

"Succubuses, or incubuses, have the ability to attract the opposite sex and have them under their complete control through a combination of eye-contact, a metre and half radius and pheromones." Sakura said. "Only a few reapers such as I are immune and I very much doubt with your track record that if she wanted you she'd have you right under her thumb."

"And you're taking me to the lion's den."

"Better for her to know you're a friend of mine than for her to try and take you when you are on your own here."

"I'm your friend now?" He said with a smirk.

Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "Trust you to pick that up."

His smirk got deeper. "And are you?"

"Let's just go already" Sakura drawled in annoyance.

* * *

They had walked through maze after maze through that unforgiving garden. Dodging thorn bushes and any other plants that would have been quite deadly to them, it was a wonder to Sakura why Karin even kept them in the first place. She even had to stop Sasuke from trying to touch the vegetation in case of being eaten by a plant or something green and scary. She wasn't quite sure what it was but didn't want to find out just yet.  
Sasuke had asked why they couldn't just fly over with Springtime, Sakura then pointed out that a maze was designed to keep idiots away from the house. Flying over a maze like that would be deemed idiotic as the demonic plants could see them easily. It was only Sakura's memory of the safe route allowed them to make it out alive. Sasuke almost cringed at the sound of something squealing and then audible crunch could be heard behind them. "Did Karin take a page out of _The Little Shop of Horrors_?"

"Wouldn't be surprised" Sakura said, she having no trouble at cringing at the sound.

They then walked down the pathway till they saw Karin's home. If they weren't in Hell Sasuke could have sworn the castle-like-mansion was something from a fairytale. There seemed to be hundreds and hundreds of black roses crawling everywhere up the dirty ochre coloured walls. The windows were huge but had bars that were even coated in barbwire for extra protection. Four towers on each side where the only part of the entire estate to have slit window, probably for guards and shooters if Karin's home was ever attacked.

"She lives in that?" Sasuke said.

"It's been recently renovated." Sakura said.

Following the path to the Sheriff of that particular Ring of Hell's home, they came across to see a white haired demon talking to a large purple one. The white haired demon was not someone Sakura was familiar with. The demon was male from the sound of it, a little shorter than Sasuke but equally strong and lean as him, maybe even leaner. Yet there was something about him she couldn't put her finger on. The large purple demon, however, was _definitely_ someone that Sakura knew so very well.

_**That demon is still alive.**_

_I know_

_**Why?**_

_I have no idea_

As they got closer it was clear that the white haired demon was trying to get pass the larger one with no success. He was handsome from what she could see from her angle and seemed to be a little anxious or something. But if he was she could not say, demons could not show any weakness to any of the same species and could be killed because of it. A part of her wondered why he was here but before she could follow the path of her curiosity Sasuke brought her back from her thoughts.

"How are we going to get passed that guy?" Sasuke said, eyeing the demons closely.

"We'll walk pass him"

"What makes you so sure that going to happen?" Sasuke asked as they drew closer to the big purple demon.

"I know the password." Sakura grinned. Sasuke frowned at her but didn't say a word, if she knew the password then she knew the password. As they got closer Sakura raised her hands and braced them against her neck as she chirped "Hi Momoshi".

The large purple demon, aka Momoshi, glanced over at the rosette for a second before his eyes comically widened and his jaw dropped in fear. He looked like he thought the world would end any second when he saw her. "AHHHHH!" Momoshi screamed and another second later he disappeared.

The white haired demon glanced at Sakura with his purple eyes along with Sasuke who was just as baffled and curious. "What did you do to him?"

"To be honest…nothing" Sakura smiled at the man then glanced at Sasuke. "You coming?"

Sasuke gave her a nod and followed her into the mansion like castle, never checking if the white haired demon was following them.

* * *

The big black gothic doors opened to reveal Karin sitting by her cluttered desk. Most of the furniture was made out of coal coloured molten rock and it was no surprise that the desk was too. The redhead was leaning back in her brown cushy leather chair and a pair of black rimmed glasses were perched on the edge of her delicate nose as she read the scroll in her hands.

"Old age getting to you Karin?" Sakura taunted as she and Sasuke approached her desk, Sasuke being a little bit behind her for obvious reasons. He was still nervous of being in the domain of the demoness who would have tortured him for his human lifestyle before.

"What is it now Sakura?" Karin said in a bored tone, without lifting her eyes off the scroll.

"Three Reapers are missing." Sakura said.

"Oh _goody_" Karin sarcastically drawled then looked at Sakura and frowned when she saw she wasn't alone. "And you brought _company._ Shall I bring out the best china?"

Sasuke hid his surprise, did this woman really not recognise him like Sakura had said? Or did she not care for souls that much. Either way the look Karin was sporting was the one noble woman would think with an ink-stain on satin sheets, disdain. And _that_ really pissed him off but not enough to let his temper fly with that. He was _annoyed_, not _stupid_.

"This is serious Karin, they could be in your ring" Sakura said.

The redhead's frown deepened then looked back Sakura. "Where is your proof?"

"There has been a report that three Reapers entered Hell and they have not returned."

"I did not ask what has happened to them, where is the proof they are here."

"Karin, most captured reapers are caught here. You know it, I know it."

"Well, I haven't heard anything and you…" Karin paused for a moment then leaned forward to get a good look at Sakura when she finally spotted Sasuke did not have a single scratch on him. "What the _fuck_ happened to you?"

"You _just_ noticed?" Sakura said in disbelief that the redhead had realised what she was wearing aka burnt and torn clothes "Glasses not working as well as they should be Karin?"

"What had happen Sakura?" Karin growled out.

"Kyuubi happened" Sakura said.

Karin rolled her eyes and pressed a button "MOMOSHI, HERE, NOW!" then released it again and looked at Sakura expectantly "Where about was he last seen?"

"Heading to Zabuzo's." Sakura reluctantly said as the large purple demon appeared in a shimmer.

The big purple demon took one look at Sakura and twitched in fear. The rosette couldn't resist when she grinned wickedly at him before turning her attention to her nails. Karin who had witnessed this all looked at Momoshi in suspicion before she stored the information for a later time and relaxed back into her chair. No matter what happened, Momoshi was always a loyal minion to her.

"Momoshi, go to Zabuzo's ring and find the Kyuubi. Tell him that if I catch him on my lands again I will send out the Master's best sealers and have him contained in the most annoying vessel ever. He will not be able to feel, taste or do anything he wants but listen and see through that being's eyes till the day it dies and he will die along with it and never to exist again." Karin said. "Understood?"

"Yes my mistress" Momoshi said and shimmered out.

Sakura raised an eyebrow at the redhead and dryly said "Karin, you care about me".

"As if! The Kyuubi should not be trespassing on my lands." Karin said.

"Oh yeah like that's going to stop him." Sasuke muttered.

"Shut up boy, you have no opinion here" Karin snapped at Sasuke instantly.

"I can say what the hell I want." Sasuke said, irritated at being talked down to yet again.

Karin laughed out loud in shrills of what could be said as 'incoming death'. Her red eyes glanced lazily at the male reaper as her laughter quietened to a smile. "You're cute…" then her smile dropped "…but _stupid_. If I was any other demon you would be up on that ceiling right now."

Curiosity killed the cat, or Sasuke's appetite really, when he looked up and paled subtly at the adornment on the ceiling. It was _not_ a pretty sight. Slowly he looked back at Karin and, with much muster, gave her a bored look despite that his very insides were squirming in queasiness. "You should fire your decorator."

Karin grinned evilly.

"I was raised to have etiquette, boy, but I'm a demon." Karin said with a low purr "And demons don't _play_ nice for _long_." She looked up at the ceiling and glanced back at him through her glasses. "Do you want to know what they did?"

"That's _enough_ Karin." Sakura said as she crossed her arms angrily.

Karin tucked her chin on the back of her hands that happened to have her elbows resting on the desk. Her eyes now looking over her glasses with wickedness. Her grin became more twisted than before and Sasuke had no doubt that when she said she 'enjoyed her job very much' she very much meant _every_ word.

"Awe, Sakura, spoiling my fun again." Karin said then tilted her head. "You should really get that stick out of your arse and live a little. You know, vent those…_frustrations_ out."

Sakura's blood boiled at the sharp jibe. "If I were you I wouldn't be talking to _me_ like that" Sakura hissed. Inside Sakura's mind she could feel Hakumei pacing up and down, her teeth glittering in a deadly snarl of destruction and impatience. The creature inside her mind itched to get out and kill and she could feel the desire growing and infect her own control. She didn't know whether embrace it or not, all she needed now was something to make her snap.

"Oh, _still_ on that tune?" Karin nonchalantly said. "Such a foolish child you _still_ are."

That did it.

The rosette lunged towards Karin, ready to maim her pretty little face. However, before Sakura could reach her, Sasuke wrapped an arm around her waist. Because she was light enough he was able to swerve her easily away from the redhead. He then took a step back just for a precaution in case she tried something when they faced Karin again. Sakura was slightly stunned that not only Sasuke caught her but he also had the strength to stop her from wriggling out of his grasp. Even Hakumei inside her mind was stunned into silence.

"Can we _please_ get back to the main problem?" Sasuke said, now exasperated at these women's insistence to start some kind of fight. "This is getting us nowhere, it's annoyingly hot and I want get out of here as soon as possible. So, the both of you cut out the crap already."

"…Hmm, I don't know whether to be angry at your outburst boy or just turned on." Karin smirked.

Sasuke internally twitched but remained composed, neither feeling fear nor showing it. "The _Reapers,_ demon, where _are_ they?"

The redhead shrugged. "Beats me."

"I'll do it happily" Sakura growled from her place.

"Sakura" Sasuke warned the rosette reaper, she looked away annoyed and he glanced back Karin. "You sure haven't heard anything?"

"Well, there is an organised fight tonight in Guren's ring. If you're looking for those Reapers then that would be your best bet. She really doesn't like them and it would seem too coincidental that there are missing Reapers and she's organising a fight."

"Hn" with that Sasuke then dragged Sakura out of the room and away from Karin.

Once she could no longer hear the pair she looked towards a hidden spot and raised an eyebrow towards it. "You can come out now."

"Really?" a sardonic voice said as an apparitional mass began to form from a liquid to solid body. "You sure your babysitter isn't going to be around?"

"Momoshi is not my babysitter. He knows his place, unlike you" Karin said as she placed her glasses down and rubbed her nose to ease her discomfort.

"Harsh babe."

"Don't call me _that_ Suigetsu."

The lean body then changed and showed the handsome features of a man with silver white hair and deep purple eyes. He approached her and knelt before her as his hands pressed the insides of her thighs to then lean forward and kissed her abdomen. Karin half growled half purred before she yanked him up by the labels of his lavender shirt so they were at eye level.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

Suigetsu smirked his infamous 'one sided smirk' that revealed one of his canines at her. He readjusted his hands to then suddenly lift her up effortlessly on him and then plopped her onto the desk when he turned around to it. As if they had done it a thousand times he easily slid between her legs and trapped her on the desk.

"Two things _babe_." He said and his smirk deepened when he saw the glint of anger in her eyes "One. Don't ever say that Reaper turns you on when you know I'm in the room"

"Jealous?" Karin growled.

"Hardly"

"Liar"

"Two. Don't egg _her_ on, not in your condition."

"She upset me."

"I don't care if she destroyed your favourite torture device, I rather not see harm come to you"

"How _sweet_ of you"

Suigetsu bared his sharp teeth at her "Take that back".

"Make me" Karin growled, and found Suigetsu slammed his lips against hers in a ruthlessly passionate kiss. It wasn't long that they were ripping each others clothes off and _venting_ off a lot of _frustrations_.

* * *

As soon as Sasuke and Sakura exited the gothic mansion the human reaper let the rosette go from his grasp. He then had to dodge the punch that was aimed for his face quickly, Sakura was still not happy. "That is uncalled for" Sasuke said.

"Uncalled for? You stopped me from giving her the smack down she needed!" Sakura growled.

"Don't be so immature, she was trying to provoke you." Sasuke pointed out to her.

"Eugh! I could kill her!" Sakura shouted upwards to the sky in frustration, she could still feel Hakumei's restlessness at the back of her mind.

"Are you even listening to me?"

"And you!" She said as she glared at him like a she-wolf would when loosing her meal to another. "What the hell was that about?"

"Hn. You are easily manipulated by her, you know that?" Sasuke said, before walking off with Sakura trailing behind him.

"I am not!" Sakura said.

"If I hadn't intervened Momoshi would be getting demon off the walls by now…"

"Heh, you think I'm that good?"

"…and I'd be dragging you to the Infirmary."

SHLUNK!

Sasuke froze. He had this awful feeling that he had been stabbed by the rosette. Yet, when he did not feel the pain that one would get when stabbed, he then came to the conclusion that something _else_ got stabbed. When he finally looked over his shoulder he saw Sakura holding Springtime in her samurai sword form. The human reaper then followed the blade's point down and found it was lodged into a metre long white snake's head. He blinked in surprise at just what happened and then glanced at Sakura again for an explanation. She shrugged.

"I hate snakes." Sakura said simply and pulled out the sword with a sickening squelch, her temper now calmed.

Sasuke pulled a face at the sound before composing himself again "So your answer is to kill it?"

"Didn't you know deadboy? It's my answer to everything I hate" Sakura smirked.

"How morbid."

"Sasuke, where exactly are we?" Sakura said as she gestured to surrounding area.

Sasuke shook his head at her before he headed towards the exit. He didn't catch the look Sakura had on her face when she looked back down at the dead white snake. She glanced at its eyes, still gleaming with that frightening yellow.

"_Silly…Little…Girl" _

Shaking her mind off the memory, she then stepped over the snake and jogged to catch up with Sasuke. She really did hate snakes.

* * *

It was nearly an hour later that they found themselves being dragged by the ankle by a very large and bulky orange demon that had some similarities as Momoshi except this one was NOT polite. Despite the situation Sakura looked very relaxed and right at home. And if she was relaxed then Sasuke knew it was going to be okay. Except he couldn't exactly fathom why she was okay to begin with, they had been captured and they were being pulled by the ankle as they lied on their backs. Talk about demeaning.

"Of all the careers I imagined I never thought I'd literally be dragged on my arse." Sasuke mumbled to Sakura.

"Well compared to other activities that arse goes through this happens to be more productive" Sakura smiled cheekily.

"PIPE DOWN BOTH OF YOU!" the demon who held their ankles snarled. "YOU WILL BEHAVE FOR LADY GUREN LIKE THE GOODY TWO SHOES YOU ARE!"

"Hey I resent that butthead!" Sakura shouted back.

The demon shook them violently and Sasuke couldn't help but wonder how on earth they got caught in the first place.

~*Flashback*~

_Both reapers were standing on a hill outside and out of sight of the fortress of Guren's. It literally looked Fort Knox had a decorator from Halloween Town and decided to go all out. High and thick impenetrable walls guarded the towers upon gloomy towers that decorated the giant gothic exterior with cruelty and malice. _

"_Sort of reminds me of my parent's house." Sasuke drawled at the sight. "So how do we get in?"_

"_I would say teleport but it's never a good idea." Sakura said as she eyed the wall "Those walls go five miles deep, have all sorts of protection on each brick and could set off an alarm so loud that your entire body would implode if you thought of teven rying to get in just by climbing on it." _

"_And this is where the Reapers are being held" Sasuke said._

"_Yep" Sakura said._

_After a moments pause Sasuke asked "So…how are we going to get in?" his question was answered when Sakura pointed behind her. There stood the orange demon ready to knock them out._

~*End of Flashback*~

"Was it really necessary to call the guard a 'butthead'?" Sasuke mumbled to Sakura.

"Oh c'mon Sasuke, you know it was" Sakura smiled cheekily in a low voice.

"You are so immature." Sasuke muttered.

"Lighten up; we're here to see Lady Guren after all."

There was a snort from the demon before they entered a grand hall. Sasuke nearly winced at the sight of the decoration hanging on the wall. If he thought Karin's ceiling was bad then this was damn right unpleasant. His stomach seemed to want to roll and heave all its contents at the sight.

"Easy Deadboy. Breath nice and slow and happy thoughts" Sakura sympathetically murmured to him softly when she noticed his eyes closed and his breathing became shallower. "We'll be out of here soon enough"

Sasuke did what he was told, trying his best to calm his stomach as he asked "Seriously, who decorates their home like that?"

_**I quite like the décor.**_

_Hakumei…_

_**Yeah, I know, 'shut up'.**_

"…I'll tell you when we get out." Sakura said.

"_If_ you get out" the demon growled then shoved them to two gangly yellowish-orange demons that then proceeded to place them on their feet as the main one then strolled up to the purple hair woman on her thrown. The crystal goat like horns protruded on either side of her head were both about seven inches in length, which pointed out she was the boss like Karin's small black horns. She was shorter than Karin and definitely not as beautiful as Sakura but there was something very demonic about this woman.

"What have you brought before me minion?" Guren asked.

"More fighters for your event Lady Guren" the orange demon said and bowed.

"Let me have a closer look at them." Guren said her interest peeked that was until she spotted the pink hair. She raised hand to stop her minions from bringing forth the prisoners, to then stand up and walked to the reapers instead. Both reapers had there face bowed as the pink haired one whispered to her companion before the both looked up and back at Guren. Guren glanced at the pinkette to the dark hair man and had to take a double look at the rosette reaper as she recognised who it was now smiling at her.

"Guren sweetie" Sakura singsong to Guren "How ya doin'?"

Guren turned and glared at her now bewildered minion as she said while she walked up to him slowly and frightenly"What were you _thinking_ of bringing _her_ here?"

"But mistress—?"

"Do you know who she is?" Guren growled.

"I—"

"If she is here then she is here for one reason and one reason only!" Guren growled and stabbed her forefinger into his chest to punctuate every word her sentence. "Get _her_ out of—" then saw something was amiss and the other guards unconscious "—where the hell did _they_ go?"

* * *

"I didn't expect you pull something like that" Sasuke said as they ran down the corridor.

"Hey, I _still_ have no way of getting around those impenetrable walls." Sakura said. "If being captured was the way in: then bound my wrists."

"Is that a request?" Sasuke smirked.

"Oh, _trust_ you to pick that out!" Sakura muttered.

Once they made quite a distance between them and Guren, Sakura stopped in her tracks to check her surroundings quickly first that in turn caused Sasuke to stop as well. Springtime was then summoned into Sakura's hand and she placed the weapon onto the floor in front of her.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"Guren see's through her guards, they are literally her eyes and ears around this place. Nothing get's by her." Sakura explained and bit her thumb, allowing for it to bleed for a moment. "If a guard sees us then she sees us and she will then send the rest down here. We're going to need a distraction."

"And you are just telling me this _now_?"

"Shhh!"

Once there was enough blood she swiped it across the side of the blade. To Sasuke's surprise the red blood turned black as ink as Sakura picked Springtime off the floor and stood up straight again. The black liquid then dropped off the blade and onto the floor. The raven haired reaper watched as it then split out and formed into a symbol.

"Come on you emotional inept idiot, I don't have all day." Sakura growled.

The liquid then began to expand rapidly and upwards, changing its form into a solid mass of white flesh and black clothing. There stood a thin but strong looking young man with features similar to Sasuke but with harder lines to his body and slightly shorter. Sasuke looked astonished at the sight but kept his mouth shut, he rather not say anything that may risk him sounding stupid.

"What is it Ugly?" the man asked in a neutral tone.

_**Jezz, he hasn't changed much... **_

"Sai, cause as much chaos as you can around Guren's castle within the next twenty minutes. I need to get some Reapers out and—" she was interrupted when Sai lifted his hand up to stop her.

"You had me on _chaos_" Sai gave her smile that looked rather fake before he ran off and pulled something out the looked remarkably like a paintbrush.

When the lookalike disappeared Sasuke turned to Sakura with a bemused face. "Who's he, and I thought teleporting could not be done here."

"That's Sai and let's say I've got other methods" Sakura curtly said.

"Uh-huh and Naruto renounced eating ramen." Sasuke said.

"Let's not get into this Sasuke we have Reapers to find." She then dashed off with Sasuke following close behind when he quickly caught up with her.

"So what exactly is he going to do? He's only one man."

"He's going to cause one hell of ruckus around here that the guards would be dealing with a hundred Naruto's"

"I see," the human reaper rolled his eyes. "And here I thought one Naruto was enough to last a life time."

"Huh"

"_Huh_?"

"Yeah _huh_."

"What does _that_ mean?"

"Oh nothing."

"Doesn't sound like nothing."

"Well, okay, but you're starting to sound an awful lot like Kakashi-sensei."

Sasuke nearly tripped on his own feet with that remark. It wasn't enough though, an image of their sensei appeared and then changed so that Sasuke had his likeness, erotic book and all. He internally cringed at the thought; it was just as bad as image of turning into his father or, god forbid, brother. Just as he was about to make a comment Sakura stopped again and shot a hand out to stop Sasuke crashing into a guard up ahead.

"We are going to have to knock him out quickly and without him seeing us otherwise more trouble." The rosette reaper whispered.

Just as Sakura was about charge into a fight, Sasuke placed a hand on her abdomen to stop her from going any further. She spotted the stone in Sasuke's hand and, to her amusement, watched the stone being thrown towards the guard. There was a resounding 'donk' before the guard fell to the ground heavily and, importantly, unconscious.

"Funny and effective" Sakura grinned.

"Sometimes the simplest of methods are needed." Sasuke said.

"Book?"

"Actually me."

"Ah. C'mon."

They both ran again only to briefly stop to collect the keys from the guard and ran down into the dungeon that it was conveniently guarding. The stairs from the archway were steep and narrow as the pelted through, knocking out any guard they come across along the way. Once they had cleared the stairway they turned right and shot down the passage way, ignoring any caged beasts. Well, Sakura had to stop a couple of times when Sasuke stopped to stare at weirdest and scary looking ones and yank him back into a run. They both slid sideways when they took another turn, until they were in front of a cage room. There, in the middle of the room, was a handsome man with long brown hair in a simple black cut garment meditating silently. His eyes slowly opened to reveal milkish-grey eyes, looking quiet bored, relieved and annoyed at the same time.

"I never expected you to be down here Neji, did Kiba dare you or something?" Sakura asked.

"No, he did not. I was here to retrieve a teammate of mine. The idiot wanted to take the long way round and got captured." Neji said calmly.

"Then how did you get in?" Sasuke said with a smirk.

Neji stared at Sasuke for a moment and then glanced back at Sakura 'Is he really asking for a beating?'. Sakura gave him a look back as she pulled the cell keys out from her pocket and it was just by luck that the first key happened to be the correct one. "I'm curious myself Neji, how did you get stuck here?" Sakura asked as she opened the door.

"I forgot about the wall." Neji said still in that calm voice.

Sakura cringed in sympathy and empathy. "Can you move?"

"I have managed to heal most of the damage but I would only slow you down if I was on my feet."

"Alright then" Sakura then looked back at Sasuke and pointed at Neji. "Give him a piggyback"

"What?" Sasuke said.

"Hey, I'm map and direction girl. Plus you're the newbie, meaning you do grunt work."

"I am not giving him a piggyback."

"I have to agree with the underling." Neji said from his place.

_**Can these two be even more childish?**_

"Hmm, okay, let's rephrase this then. Sasuke you will _happily_ give him a piggyback ride as I have commanded you to and if you don't you will loose any hope of sleeping in your own home again." Sakura said "Neji you will _ac__cept_ the piggyback ride on the account that I will overlook that instead of informing Tsunade-sama of the situation you went ahead and took it upon yourself to rescue your comrade and got captured. Does that sound _better_ gentlemen?"

Moments later, Sakura and Sasuke who carrying Neji, piggyback style, were running down another passage. Sakura could distinctly hear Hakumei just laughing her arse off in her mind from the look both men were sporting. It wasn't long until they found the other trapped reaper, or really a guard to the Gates of Hell. Sakura had to take a closer look as the usual hairstyle of this person was now let loose and flowed over their shoulders.

"Tenten?" Sakura said in surprised, she'd never figured she was 'the idiot that got caught'. She always found the girl to be quite smart, both intellectually and street smart.

"Sakura thank goodness you're here. Neji how can you—?" Tenten said then her beautiful brown doe eyes spotted Sasuke, who was still carrying Neji. "Uh, new guy?"

"Kakashi's new student; Sasuke. I'm showing him the ropes" Sakura said as she tried key after key to get Tenten out.

"Ah. Nice to meet you, although, I preferred it on better circumstances." Tenten said to Sasuke.

"Same here." Sasuke said, not knowing what else to say.

Tenten looked back and Neji with a disapproving look. "What on earth were you thinking? Attempting to teleport through that wall, you could have seriously injured yourself."

"Wait a minute," Sakura said as she then unlocked the door to then push it open. "How do you know about the wall injury if he was rescuing you?"

"He wasn't rescuing me" Tenten said as she walked out of her prison. "I was rescuing him but let myself to be captured and they threw me in that cell before I could escape."

"But Neji said he was rescuing a teammate before he got caught and you were rescuing Neji." Sakura said as she looked at Tenten. "Then who is this—?"

"MY YOUTHFUL CHEERY BLOSSOM I'M DOWN HERE!"

Sakura froze incredibly quickly at that scarily familiar voice that her entire body tighten up so rigidly that anyone could knock her down with a flick of a finger.

_**Oooooooh you have GOT to be fucking KIDDING me!**_

"Someone you know?" Sasuke teased.

"Shut. Up. Sasuke." Sakura growled.

She walked passed them and a couple of corridors and prisons too till she found the owner of that voice. The rosette reaper found him with five unconscious demons and giving her such a sparkling smile, wisdom teeth and all, which she felt she needed to put her pink sunglasses on. He was tall, muscular, china black eyes and with his black hair spikey she guessed the humidity must have made it that way. The second surprise was that he wasn't in his usual gear, black and green spandex, but in black robes himself.

"Lee." Sakura greeted politely.

_**Can't we just leave him here?**_

_No, besides he does have good qualities._

_**Such as?**_

_Not being afraid of me, that's for starters._

"Sakura-chan, you have come to rescue me?" Lee said.

"Yes Lee." Sakura said as she opened the door and observed the chaos he created. "I'm presuming you have enough energy to get yourself out?"

"Why of course, these unyouthful demons thought I would make a nice snack. Pity the only thing Gai-sensei had taught me in cookery was a knuckle sandwich." Then added to the blank look she gave him. "Ah, see that you don't get it too, they didn't either."

"They wouldn't, Demons eat knuckles Lee." Sakura explained.

"…Ah. That does clear it up. What happened to your clothes?"

"Kyuubi."

"And you survived?"

"Uh-huh" she then tilted her head to gesture to the exit. "Want to meet up with Neji and Tenten?"

"My sempai's have come?" Lee said in surprise but happily as he jogged out of his prison next to her.

"Yeah, can you not sense them?" Sakura asked, taking a step back to create some space, abeit subtly.

"My sensing skills are not quite good but they believe I would make a fine guard as my prows on the battlefield are full of talent and untapped potential." Lee shyly said. "At least that is what Gai-sensei says to me."

"Yet, you seemed to know I was here."

"Your aura is so distinct and youthful that I sensed you the moment you entered the keep." He smiled at her.

"I don't know whether to thank you because that was sweet of you or that I need to work on suppressing my aura is a rookie like you can sense it." Sakura said.

"I'd take both; it's always good to improve oneself abilities." Lee said happily.

"Wise words." Sakura said and turned away to look down the corridor "Let's go!"

They shot down the hallway with Lee right behind her. She wasn't surprised that Lee could keep up with her as from the stories she heard about Gai being very exuberant teacher in _all_ his methods. Each student that she had come across seemed to retain lightless about them while retaining skills that couldn't have been crafted without sheer hard work. There was so many similarities she found in lessons with Kakashi that only thing she and Naruto picked up from their sensei was they seemed to be late for any meetings. A habit that everyone knew about time and time again. At Sakura's and Lee's current pace it wasn't long until they found the others waiting for them.

"Neji!" Lee said in horror from the sight of his friend clinging onto Sasuke back "What happened?"

"Went to find you and the wall stopped me." Neji drawled.

"My friend! For your injuries that I have indirectly caused I shall carry you out of here with my own youthful strength."

"NO!" Neji said as his eyes widened in what that Lee was saying.

But it was too late. Neji was taken from Sasuke and was on Lee's back instead. "DASH. OF. YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUTH!" and Lee zoomed off with his 'baggage' clutching in all his might along the way. They would have laughed if they had seen Neji face, they all couldn't believe it just happened like that.

After a beat Sasuke glanced at Sakura "Is that guy for real?"

"As real as they come" Sakura said. "That was Lee."

"Oh." Sasuke said, recognising the name from somewhere.

"You should see him when he gets drunk or eat Grandma Kai's 'Curry of Life'." Tenten said and sighed. "Ten times worse. It really doesn't help Gai-sensei encourages it."

"Isn't that the guy who plays 'rock, paper and scissors' with Kakashi?" Sasuke said.

"So you met him?" Sakura asked, curiously.

"Heard of him, Naruto likes to inform me of Kakashi's wins and loses" Sasuke replied.

"Ah." Sakura said with a nod then saw her scythe became black for a moment before returning to normal. "Let's go! Our twenty minutes are nearly up!"

And they were gone with nothing more than a breeze left behind.

* * *

**Haha, Lee and Neji are just meant to be, not in the romantic sense but you get the idea.**

**Big shout out to:**_ HlorkexD_**,**_ sleepingdreamer08_**,**_ delirious0ne_**,**_ Amara Dzi_**,**_ 7HeartAndSoul7_**,**_ nightwish635_**,**_ Reignashii_**,**_ Diamondreamer_**,**_ Akatsuki Sakura Uchiha_**,**_ Neko-Graphic_**,**_ Kaydreams_**,**_ TeenageCrisis_**,**_ C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only_**,**_ Lady Rini_**,**_ MichiiHaru-Chan_**,**_ LaughsRFun_**,**_ xXNinXGalXx_**,**_ Mizz Hime-Sama_**, and finally **_cowgirl137__**. **_**Thank you so much for your reviews guys, especially for those who persevere with every chapter. You guys rock!**

**I hope everyone have enjoyed the chapter as much as I loved writing it, so let me know what ya think. ;)**

**Chow!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: A Bad Deck.**

**.**

**.**

**.**

"**You think you fixed the problem  
'Til it comes right back again  
And life seems like a trap  
****You're trying to get out"**

~Pink

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Sakura, are you alright?" Tsunade asked as she sat by her desk, watching the mentioned girl lying on the floor on her pristine carpet. She had arrived back to her office from a break from her time in the vault with Shizune to find the pinkette reaper lying there.

"P.G." Sakura grunted back.

All the pinkette wanted to do was stay in that position as long as possible on that oddly comfortable carpet. Somewhere in the back of her mind she figured that Tsunade must pass out a lot and the floor was designed that way. But that wasn't really why she wanted to be on the floor, cause, well, she _hadn't_ been drinking nor could she pass out when drunk anyway. She managed to get everyone out of hell safely and she really wanted a place to nap.

"Then why are you on the floor of my office?" Tsunade asked.

"Tired, can't be bothered to go home." Sakura mumbled.

"So you think this would be the best spot?" Tsunade asked heavily with sarcasm.

"Don't be mean; I just got back from hell Okasan." Sakura said a bit more clearly despite the weary ache in her bones, turning her head towards Tsunade.

"Have you been to the infirmary yet?" Tsunade asked; frowning at the rare use of calling her mother without her name attached to it. Only when they were alone and Sakura felt secure enough would she call her that. She must have been really tired.

Sakura cringed, answering Tsunade's question. She really did want some time before she _had_ to go to the infirmary for a check up. It was a standard procedure that she did not like, even if Deidara would be her doctor.

"You know you have to." Tsunade chided lightly.

"Don't wanna" Sakura pouted.

"Sakura" Tsunade patiently said.

"Can't make me"

"Is there a reason why you don't wish to go?"

Sakura sat up from the floor and, with a few hand gestures by Tsunade, found herself on a long sofa with cushions. She sighed and relaxed back into the little comfort Tsunade produce for her, then spoke. "You weren't exactly _specific_ to Kakashi on the missing 'Reapers'." She aired quoted with her fingers on the last word.

"They were not Reapers?"

"Trapped _guards_ got captured. I saved their butts."

"With Sasuke I presume?"

"Uh-huh but that was not the problem."

"What was?"

"_Lee_ was amongst the captured."

Tsunade couldn't stop the smile creeping on her face even if she wanted to. "Ever _rambunctious_ was he?"

"You can say that again."

"And because he might still be in the infirmary."

"…"

"…"

"…possibly"

The Head Huncho of Limbo laughed heartily, ignoring Sakura's annoyed grumbles at her. This wasn't the first time Sakura hid herself in her office because of the mini-me of Gai. She remembered the first time clearly, it was just after Sakura's eighteenth birthday. The poor rosette reaper was bombarded by the boy so much that she teleported straight into her office, a feat only reserved for Tsunade. The blonde suspected that Shizune may have given her a 'key' to get in and hide. Since then anytime Sakura was in the presence of Lee or had been, Tsunade would find her there.

"It's not funny" Sakura growled.

"What exactly did he do?" Tsunade asked, never relinquishing her smile.

"After we got out of the imprisonment, Lee _decided_ it was the best time for some poetry." Sakura said, feeling her embarrassment all over again. "Nothing in my 'Happy World' could prepare me at how _aw_ful it was." She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose in irritation "And he was doing it on. The. Way. _Back_"

"It couldn't have been that bad."

"And the manwhore got involved."

"Ah"

"And he gave him pointers! _Pointers_ Tsunade-okasan!" Sakura growled, her eyes were aflame. "He was like 'No no no! That is not how you woe a lady. You want to use poetry, try it in bed'. Right in front of me and Lee _was_ _taking notes!_" she screeched the last part with gusto.

"I see."

"Urgh! What I am I going to do?"

"You can head straight to the infirmary. I'll tell Deidara to meet you in one of the private rooms, that way you'll be safe from further embarrassment. I'll give you an afternoon shift tomorrow instead of a morning one so you may rest."

"Thanks Tsunade-okasan"

* * *

Hinata was the first being to notice Ino tip toeing away from Shikamaru's office. She didn't want know what was going on between those two. But if she came into Ino's sight she could pretty much count on getting a headache or a _migraine_ if she was that unlucky.

"Hinata-sama"

Hinata slowly turned towards the voice to see Neji, her cousin, standing there stoically. Her eyebrows rose when she saw the attire he was wearing and that his skin held a deep shade of pink. That was odd as she had never seen him in that colour when he worked by the Gates, he was always pale like her. There was one explanation and she very much wanted to know.

"I thought guarding the Gates of Hell meant you didn't need 'heatblock' Neji-san." Hinata carefully said.

"It will be gone by tomorrow." Neji said.

"I should hope so. Otherwise I would be quite concerned about your activities, as well as the elders." Hinata said. "What happened this time?"

"The new student of Gai decided to make a detour, the rest is history." Neji flatly said.

Hinata was silent for moment, carefully analysing Neji's body before she spoke. "You're hiding something."

"Ah, let it go Hinata" Tenten said as she appeared with a huge grin "Trust me when I say this, it would be too embarrassing for Mr Stick-up-his-butt to recollect what has happened in his fatefully crappy life"

Neji eyelids dropped in a fashion that showed his irritation with his colleague. Without turning to look at her the male Hyuuga grunted "_Thank_ you Tenten for that _articulate_ explanation".

"No problems Neji," Tenten said ignoring the sarcasm "now c'mon, Lee said he'll buy us dinner tonight and I'm mighty peckish." She then frowned at a thought. "Speaking of Lee, where is he?"

"Last time I checked he was annoying the new rookie." Neji said.

"Him? Why? He's just a newbie reaper." Tenten said. "He won't be bothering us by the Gates."

"Hmph."

"Neji, do you know something I don't?"

"Plenty of things."

Feeling her temper being tested yet again, Tenten ignored Neji's jibe for the second time as she smiled at him sweetly. "Don't be shy now, we're friends remember"

"For someone who has extraordinarily dexterous you certainly miss a few things."

"Such as?"

"There's something unusual about him."

"Other than the fact he's willing to give Lee tips on how to get a lady?"

"More like _lose_ a lady"

"Neji"

The male Hyuuga rolled his eyes and sighed "There is something unusual about him I can't put my finger on."

Neji had always been able to deduce a person's statue just by one glance with whatever they were wearing. He could tell Sasuke came from an educated family from the way he spoke. He could tell he had oodles of confidence from the way he walk and how he spoke to Sakura, who was notorious in scaring people into submission just by being in the room. He could tell he was a prideful creature whenever something frustrating would happen.  
But even after all this whenever he made eye contact with him it was…kinda off. Sure it was a rather cocky look he would give, like he knew something he didn't, but there was something strange about the newbie. He just _knew_ it.

"There are unusual reapers here Neji." Hinata rather softly said. "I've observed them at work amongst the Assigners. With the missing Reapers I believe Tsunade is being strict on efficiency than usual and their personalities are coming through as a result. This new Reaper maybe a little unusual as he may be feeling the result of the intense training he has been given. You should not worry about him, but yourself. You have been gone quite a while from the clan."

"Forgive me, Hinata-sama." Neji said automatically, it was ingrained into his system since birth that he should respect and tend to those in the hierarchy of his clan.

"It is not I you should be asking cousin." Hinata said "But I was worried, try not to do that again or at least be more careful next time."

"Yes Hinata-sama" Neji said with a bow.

"Heh, Hinata, you've changed." Tenten said her eyes glued on the heiress throughout her observation. "Usually you're bumbling mess now you're sounding like a noblewoman. What gives?"

Hinata flushed at that and clasped her fingers together, save for her forefingers that began to tap together in habit. "I just…I've grown to be one Tenten, but I'm still me."

"SEMPAI'S!" Lee shouted in glee as he appeared, if was anymore happy he would have somersaulted in and no one would have been surprised he had.

"Hi Lee." Tenten grinned while Neji looked sourly at Lee; he wasn't exactly his favourite person at the moment. He was just glad Tenten had managed to persuade the exuberant maniac to help him walk to the infirmary instead of carrying him there. He didn't think he could look at anyone in the eye if he had been.

"All is fine with me" Lee said and turned Neji, still a little upset his companion had been hurt in order to rescue him. "My friend, are you well now?"

"Yes Lee" Neji grumbled.

"Come! Let's us go eat!" Lee grinned and turned to Hinata, sticking an arm out for her. "Heiress of the Hyuuga's, will you accompany us too?"

Hinata giggled at Lee's chivalry and played along. "Why of course good sir" and wrapped an arm around Lee's.

"Wonderful!" Lee cheered happily and led Hinata to the elevator as Tenten and Neji followed. It was the second reason Neji's mood soured all over again.

* * *

"Why are you shining a light into my eyes?" Sakura asked after Deidara checked her irises reaction to the light, from the look on his face she was fine there. "What is that suppose to accomplish?"

He then turned the light off and pocketed it before grabbing his chart to make a note as the Blonde man said "You know the drill, besides out of all of them you seemed to have the most damaged on the outside".

The infirmary had been a little busy with Reapers and rescued personnel with physical checks and healing sessions if need be. Now though it was just the occasional reaper that needed a stitching up or two, but that didn't stop the rosette reaper from hiding from Lee in case he was still around. Sakura was being personally being seen to by the top physician in all of Limbo while Tenten, Lee and Neji had been checked by Deidara's colleagues within other rooms. Sasuke had already been seen to by Deidara and as far as Sakura knew, for obvious reasons, he was now home.  
You see, Deidara was not only able to reconstruct a body but heal and fix ANY problems it may have. He was very well versed with any entity's body, in fact it was why he could fix any bodily problems. Plus he didn't hold grudges to anyone, one of the reasons why Sakura preferred he was her doctor to anyone else.

"How's that? I heal faster then them lot." Sakura said.

"How did you're clothes get torn up then?"

"…"

"Thought so."

"It's not my fault."

_**Stupid Kyuubi, I actually liked those clothes.**_

"You always seemed to get yourself into trouble down there." Deidara sighed "You shouldn't with your father being…"

"Yeah I _know_ Deidara." Sakura growled, her eyes narrowed in a warning. "Fate just likes to screw me over."

"Fate can't be dealing you a bad deck." Deidara said as he crossed his arms at that.

"Hello, Deidara, have you just met me?" Sakura sarcastically asked.

"Don't be flippant with me Sakura." Deidara said as he gave her a look. "Or do I have to give you another sedative for that 'roommate' of yours"

_**HEY! I haven't done anything you uptight art freeeeeeeeeeeaak! Picking on me when I can't get my claws on you! How cowardly and stupid you are! I should—!**_

_Hakumei. Shut. UP!_

"Did I set her off again?" Deidara asked noticing the look she was sporting.

"Yes." Sakura sighed, feeling Hakumei's emotions on the side of her head before they settled down again. It was being to get ridiculous at how many times that psyche would suddenly flare up at the tiniest threat or insult that either of them would get. But Hakumei would never admit to being protective of Sakura, as Hakumei feels what Sakura felt and vice versa. This, however, wasn't what Deidara was concerned about.

"Hmm, how long were you down there for?"

Sakura almost hesitated before she said "Nearly Five hours.".

"I'm guessing you got aggressive down there again. Un." Deidara said, crossing his arms in disapproval. "I don't know why you accept those missions. I don't care if you are immune to the heat; you are more mentally vulnerable then any other reaper that goes down there."

"I can handle it before I can do it again." Sakura said.

"And how is being a lawyer working out for you?"

"…that was an accident."

"I'm sure Zabuzo thinks differently after you pulverized his minion."

"I wouldn't say pulverized…"

Deidara shot her a 'are you kidding me?' look. "Un. A bucket and mop was used to clean the remains Sakura."

"…"

"…"

"…maybe I did get a _little_ carried away."

"You don't say, un."

Sakura pushed herself off the bed and landed on her feet softly to then give Deidara a smile. "Hey, I have to deal with Sasuke too now and he's a right pain in the butt"

"I'm sure he is." Deidara said with a mischievous look.

"Oh not you too" Sakura whined.

Deidara chuckled at her "I'm still male, Sakura, and I can see why he would like that…butt"

"You're my doctor; you're supposed to rid any _ailment_ of mine." Sakura complained.

"He's not an illness" Deidara said, "Besides, from what I can see you seem to be a bit livelier than you were before. I'd say you're enjoying his company"

The reaper gave him a look before trudged off and out of the room as she muttered "Traitor".

"I heard that." Deidara laughed.

* * *

From the sight of the empty ramen pots were the first irritation that Sasuke felt when he entered his study room. The large computer screens were up and running as Kakashi went through another pile of research while his dog had his head resting his feet. From what he guessed, Naruto must have been on his fifteenth cup already from what he counted from the litter on his previously clean tables.

"Is murder a small thing amongst your kind by any chance?" Sasuke growled.

"Oh lighten up teme, I got hungry." Naruto said, knowing he was the cause of his irritation.

"Tidy it up dobe or I'll through your arse out of here." Sasuke growled.

"Where's Sakura?" Kakashi asked, wondering where his ex-student was.

"Disappeared the moment we got back in Limbo." Sasuke said, as he sat into one of his most comfortable chairs and threw an empty ramen pot into a nearby bin while trying to keep his voice neutral. "Something about green monsters being pains again."

Kakashi tilted his head as a particular funny memory popped into his mind, letting his eyes crinkle to show he was smiling beneath that mask and asked with much mirth "Ah, Lee was in your rescue company down there?".

"Yes."

"She finds him a little…_extravagant_ for her tastes."

"I thought she found him scarily weird."

"Well…yeah that's pretty much it." Naruto said with a shrug.

"Hn."

"While you guys were 'Downstairs' rescuing missing personal, Naruto and I have been doing some digging around the areas the new missing reapers had gone missing in" Kakashi said as became serious.

"Did you two find anything?" Sasuke asked with curiosity as he went down to business.

"Zilch, dattebayo!" Naruto exasperatedly said, you could tell he'd been wanting to vent his aggravation for a while now and just had the opportunity. "This guy gives us _one_ stinking clue with that knife and _nothing_ else."

"Not one clue, there were scorch marks from one area the latest kidnapped Reaper." Kakashi said. "It was a residue of a Reaper using their powerballs or fireballs to fight or evade. They were aiming a little higher than their height, this kidnaper is tall."

"How tall?" Sasuke asked.

"Five foot eleven to six foot four, it is to say that they had been aiming for their torso. The amount of scorch marks also says that this person is very agile." Kakashi said.

"Possibly thin too." Naruto said "Those scorch marks were big and cause there was so many I very much doubt they'd be able to dodge like that if they were tubby."

"So we're looking for someone who's very tall, has no problems in dodging a high volume of 'fireballs' and thin." Sasuke said and frowned. "What if they are immune to fire?"

Kakashi thought for a moment with a contemplating look while Naruto rubbed his chin in thought. They both mauled over the idea before Kakashi shook his head negatively. "Immune would explain a lot of things but he would have left a silhouette on the wall and there would have been less scorch marks." Kakashi said. "Plus there would have been aura residue transferred from the kidnaper on these walls. I bet the reaper was trying to aim for that as well. I would have been able to pick it up the moment we got there."

"What if this aura just can't be detected?" Sasuke asked.

"That's impossible." Naruto said. "That's like saying you don't have a scent. You can wash all you like but you still have one."

"But there are ways to suppress an aura" Kakashi said.

"Sensei?" Naruto said, with a questioning look.

"We can make our aura's blend into the background, only those trained like us could pin point it. However, there are a few out there than can suppress their aura without being detected." The silver haired reaper explained "but I very much that when in battle you'll be able to keep it suppressed."

"Why?" Sasuke asked.

"Because it's connected to your chakra, to your power" Kakashi said. "You can't just switch one on without the other."

"But if this person can?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto and Kakashi looked at one another with concern then before Kakashi opened his mouth again. "Then it will be very difficult to catch them, or even know they are there without sensing something wrong. You'd have to be unbelievably fast to see this guy coming right at you."

"And from we see the fights, there's no way this guy would waste time with a reaper. He's collecting them for a reason, why fight when you could do that?" Naruto finished.

"Maybe he wants to get up close first, see if they got the right one." Sasuke said.

"The right one?" Kakashi asked with a frown.

"A reaper" Sasuke amended.

"Nah, he would know a reaper when he comes across one." Naruto said.

"So if he so fast and agile like you two has claimed him to be, why doesn't he knock them out before they leave evidence of such transaction that may occur?" Sasuke pointed out.

"Oh good green earth" Kakashi said in realisation. "He knows he's faster than them. He _plays_ with them first; he wants them to see his face before he takes them. Just imagine, you know something is out there catching your kind. Then it toys with you, giving you false opportunity to escape and then the last thing you see is that it goes in for the…well…you know what I mean."

"Hn. Very much like a cat with the mouse it's caught." Sasuke agreed.

Kakashi glanced down at the canine sleeping besides him. "This is very much why I like dogs."

"Well there's a bright side to all this." Naruto chirped.

"What's the bright side?" Kakashi asked.

"Sasuke your brother called earlier on" Naruto said with a smile. "Something about life insurance, a party and your parents"

"Ah crap, my Parents 30th Anniversary" Sasuke muttered.

"I'm surprised your mother was actually able to conceive a cold hearted bastard like you." Naruto said.

The blonde didn't regain consciousness until twenty-two minutes later.

* * *

An empty Pepsi can was kicked down the deserted street by Sakura. Her hands were shoved in her pockets of her newly purchased long jacket. She had stopped by the uniform store in Limbo for new work clothes before she made her way home. That little trip had put a huge dent in her purse, but she _really_ didn't want to go home in burnt rags. Or look like she had come back from a rock concert or something.

_All I need now is Sasuke to say a snappy remark about all this and the crappy day can end on a high note._

_**Sasuke huh?**_

_Oh not you too._

_**Hey I like him, not in the sense 'oh love me forever' deal but the 'fuck him till he's out of your system' deal.**_

_Good luck with that then._

_**You are not even going to consider it?**_

_What is there to consider? I don't even have the choice to consider._

_**Says who? Those old windbags? Please! They're so ancient they'd probably get a heart condition if they even **_**thought**_** of doing the deed.**_

Sakura chuckled at Hakumei's little jibe. _That's mean and kind of gross if you think about it._

_**They are old hoo-hah's, who gives a crap about them? Not me, and you certainly shouldn't. We're better than them.**_

_You are starting to sound an awful lot like father._

_**Hmph, I am nothing like him. My awesomeness would even make **_**him**_** cry in fear.**_

_Whatever you say…_

Sakura paused in her stride. Something wasn't right. The street was too quiet, even at this time of night. Usually she would hear the scuttling of vermin nearby, but there was nothing. No wind. No sound. Just nothing.

_**What is it?**_

_I don't know, but I sure don't like it._

Her eyes flicked upon every object in her surrounding. She couldn't see anything out of the ordinary but she knew there was something amiss. Until she caught a scent in the air. It was full of maliciousness and cruelty. The thing was evil, she could smell it; something that reapers can't do unless they spent a little _too_ much time in hell. It wasn't until Sakura looked over to her far right and into the shadows did she see a figure standing there.  
Her eyes narrowed in annoyance when she felt the intent to harm her coming off in waves. But whoever this was she couldn't detect their aura signature, just the intent of harm. She also knew a being that could suppress their aura very well and hide it too.

"Karin, if you're thinking of a rematch with me can you at least wait until tomorrow." Sakura grunted towards the figure.

"Sorry, Karin couldn't make it."

That wasn't Karin. No way was that Karin and there was no way was it one of her lackeys too. Demons had no trouble with bravado, even ones that were weak. But this…person, from the sound of their voice they sounded amused. Her eyes narrowed even more, who ever this was seemed to be very entertained with her assumption. In fact they seemed more willing to play with her, something she wasn't keen on. She never liked to be manipulated and nor did she liked to be in someone's little game of cat and mouse. Sakura could sense now that whoever this was appeared to have a little of that _intent_ towards her now. The rosette, however, knew that most enemies were like dogs: run and they will give chase.

"Who are you?" She asked calmly.

"You'll find out later for now I'm just going to collect you little doll."

"No dinner and a movie? That's sorta cheap isn't it?"

She never got the reply as the figure in the shadow lunged at her.

* * *

**This chapter was a pain to write out I can tell you! Too many stopping and starting and thinking 'What do I write now? Darn it girl you need to plan a bit more of the now than chapters that are WAY ahead'. I'm serious! I have future chapters already done and they are like way to far to be putting them up now. But I digress, I'm just happy this one is done and dusted and allows me to think of the other stories I'm neglecting.**

**Big shout out (and deep breath people there is a lot here) to: **_gemaima11__**,**__ Sakura Crystals__**,**__ Diamondreamer__**,**__ Reignashii__**,**__ SasuSakuKawai__**,**__ ShanaLCrowley__**,**__ HlorkexD__**,**__ delirious0ne__**,**__ LaughsRFun__**,**__ cowgirl137__**,**__ Akatsuki Sakura Uchiha__**,**__ Zenevieva-Avalon__**,**__ Mizz Hime-Sama__**,**__ Amara Dzi__**,**__ nightwish635__**,**__ 31EliZAbeTH919__**,**__ Lady Rini__**,**__ TeenageCrisis__**,**__ tsuchiya-sama__**,**__ JaJa-Princess__**,**__ C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only__**,**__ Neko-Graphic__**,**__ 7HeartAndSoul7_**and finally**_MichiiHaru-Chan_**! Thank you soooo much guys! Your reviews are just so wonderful to read and always make me smile whenever I read them, even laugh if they're funny.**

**Thanks again and whatever opinions or thoughts of this chapter you do share with me, be it bad or good. I love to know what you think. **

**M-V**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: An Elephant landed on it **

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**"Blood and blisters  
On my fingers  
Chaos rules when we're apart  
Watch my temper  
I go mental  
I'll try to be gentle"**

~ Garbage

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The blow was so fast that if you had blinked you would have missed the figure being sent into a random nearby car. Both the hood and the roof were dented in such a way that it had curved around the figure, while breaking the front screen and setting the alarm off in that instant. It wasn't the most spectacular of punches Sakura could muster, but it sure left an impression one way or another. Casually, Sakura wiggled her fingers to ease the discomfort in her knuckles as she watched the figure trying to pull itself out of the wreckage. Her eyes were fixed on its form very keenly, knowing damn well it had been unprepared for the punch she delivered and was ready for the backlash waiting to happen. Her lessons with Kakashi had proven she had learnt well not to make the first move with an enemy but to defend yourself first and foremost and this person was now eating metal because of it.

After what seemed to be about five minutes of waiting for the figure to get out of the dent Sakura uttered "Look I got things do buddy, so I'll see you around." and with that she continued her way home.

A scream of metal pronounced the mystery person had managed to break out of the steel confinement. Looking over her shoulder when she stopped in mid-stride, she found to her annoyance that it was someone she had never seen in her life. The mystery person was a man with pale shoulder length hair and had a light lilac sheen to it where the light hit. He was tall at 6ft 7, looked very lean in the loose clothing he was wearing and beautiful despite the demonic red eyes tightening into slits.

"Wow, you don't handle rejection well, do you?" Sakura said, tilting head to the side.

He charged at her again, faster than before. However, he was yet again unprepared when Sakura barely made a jump in one go to top of the two storied building in time. She landed on a fire escape balcony softly on her feet after a smooth flip in midair that would have had any circus acrobat curse with envy.

"Reapers can't do that." He said in annoyance.

"Obviously you haven't been around that long." Sakura drawled.

She dodged him again when his fist suddenly hit the wall she had been leaning against moments ago. She quickly jumped to the roof and felt his claws swiping the air just beneath her feet. Ignoring the thoughts of nearly loosing her toes she landed on the warped metallic roof and immediately cart wheeled away before he landed where she did. He was lightning fast, in fact faster than any other being she had come across and still he pursued without so much as a trickle of sweat. She barely had the time to summon her scythe and turn it into a sword to defend her self when the giant claws came crashing down on her again. Her entire body shook at the vibration that travelled down from her sword, almost buckling beneath the impact. Talk about power.

_**My my, what big claws you have Mr Kruegar.**_

_NOT NOW HAKUMEI_

She nearly did flinch at the sight from the size of the claws up close, wondering for a brief moment for where they came from. After all his hands didn't have them in the beginning, unless they were retracted in the beginning. The rosette, though, had no doubt that if they opened her skin just by tiny bit she would loose. They had to have some kind of poison or sedative, otherwise he wouldn't have said 'you'll find out later' if he meant just to collect her. Now that she had his claws against her blade she realised he was incredibly strong by the way he seemed to be trying to push down on her.

_**Oh dear, in a bit of a pickle, aren't we?**_

_CAN'T YOU SEE I'M A LITTLE BUSY AT THE MOMENT?_

_**I can, and I must say you are in trouble.**_

Then, to her dismay, the pressure of his aura seemed to have been released all in one go and she couldn't help feel nauseas over it. It was sickening and it made her stomach seemed to turn itself inside out and upside down. Her head felt very dizzy and coupled with his strength – as he tried to push Springtime away from protecting it's master – was taking it's toll on Sakura.

_**You're tired, you are low on energy and you're in a life and death battle. Wonderful huh? Now, what should you do in a situation like this? Hmm, let me think.**_

_Hakumei, either be helpful OR SHUT UP!_

_**I don't think Springtime can hold out much longer. **_

…_If you are suggesting what I think you are suggesting, then the answer is NO._

_**Well then, get out of his way and run ya big **_**pansy**_**!**_

Sakura let herself be pushed down by his strength and weight and with the momentum kicked up into his gut with a burst of strength. To her delight, she managed to send him over her and off the roof to further the distance between them. Quickly as she could she bucked herself off the floor and onto her feet. Her legs were just about numb when she kicked him, and it appeared to be a huge mistake on her part as it felt like he was made of solid rock there. He wasn't like that in the beginning, was it a fighting mode or something? Sakura didn't allow herself the time to contemplate it as she ran across the roof and tried to be scarce.

_If I can make at least a distance of a hundred meters away from him then I'll be able to teleport without him trailing. Or hitchhike if I can go straight to limbo._

_**Okay, you concentrate on that, I'll fix those numb legs of yours.**_

He, on the other hand, had different ideas for her when he burst through the roof in front of the pinkette. She jumped over him and off the roof in time before his claws came into contact with her skin. She threw Springtime in front of herself and it changed into a red surfer board with black cheery blossoms just when she landed upon it. A black mould seemed to ooze up and over Sakura's feet and calf muscle and solidified to secure her in. The board then soared up into the air like a bird, dodging sign posts and buildings as it continued to climb to get away from the being that tried to harm it's master. Then, to her horror, a crash that could be easily heard miles away was announced that wasn't that far behind her.  
Her eyes widened at the sight when she looked over her right shoulder. It was like a scene from a Horror movie and she was playing a part she did not like. The creature was running across the buildings after her on all fours, even jumping from side to another to dodge signs and kept himself to cling onto them as he propelled himself to follow her. Yes, enemies were like dogs: run and they give chase.

"Springtime, a little help here." Sakura said, knowing it couldn't go any faster than was now. The board spat something out for her and she caught it in an instant. She looked at it for a moment, it was ball-ish with a clasp pin at the top and that was white that just seemed to glow a golden colour. "It maybe a little overkill but thanks!"

She pulled the pin out, tossed it towards her target and hit its mark. The explosion was immediate. It had no sound but a brilliant white light and with a force so strong that it sent Sakura spinning on Springtime upwards till she slowed down halfway across the city. The rosette girl felt unbelievably dizzy, exhausted and very very _very_ sick at the moment. She braced her hands against her knees as the board continued to soar away with her from the scene.

_**A Holy Grenade? You threw a HOLY GRENADE? ARE YOU INSANE?**_

_I don't feel so good._

_**I know it won't affect humans, but it could have hurt **_**us**_**! Holy or not that blast still does damage to immortals, stupid!**_

_Shut up, please? The world is still spinning for me._

_**Fine! Springtime get us to Limbo right now.**_

And Sakura was gone in a black and red puff of smoke.

* * *

Kakashi and his students (both former and present) were nearly knocking over people as they rushed to reach the infirmary. It had taken one phone call from Tsunade and they were running to their team mate as if the armies of Hell were chasing them. They only made one stop and that was when they spotted Deidara and, despite protesting that Sakura needed her rest, given them the room number she was in. They all nearly slammed into the door if it wasn't suddenly opened by Tsunade that shortly followed by a lethal glare. It had them all stock still in their tracks, almost tripping over one another from the suddenness.

"I thought I told you she is recovering." Tsunade said, looking at them with an equal amount of concern and irritation. "And that your presence is not requested."

"Don't give me that Tsunade-ba-chan-sama" Naruto growled. "You know as well as I do about the seriousness of it. No one messes with Sakura-chan and gets away with it, Datteboyo!"

"How is she?" Kakashi asked, using a more polite approached.

Taking note of all the concerned and determined faces she relented as she opened the door wider to show the rosette reaper asleep on the bed peacefully. "Aside from nearly being captured and exhausted, incredibly well." Tsunade said. "She's very lucky to get out of that situation" and pulled the door back so no one else could have a peek.

"And the first" Sasuke said. "From what we've gathered this person doesn't lose their target."

"What you've gathered?" Tsunade said with a questioning voice.

"We've profiled this guy as someone who is fast and efficient, that they torment their target first before capturing them." Sasuke said. "He or she is well aware of their abilities and know the restrictions of a reapers' one, exploiting to its limits"

"He, not a she." Tsunade said "Due to exhaustion Sakura started babbling a bit. Some I understand others…it is a little disconcerting to hear as I hardly make contact with living humans or learn their culture of today's standard. The description she made of this person, however, seemed to be of a horror story." She then looked at Kakashi pointedly. "Her tongue was free and loose with the details in front of all in Limbo." Then with sigh she glanced at all of them. "Shizune is trying to calm everyone down but I've got a feeling that most of the reapers, if not all, will be moving into netherworlds now."

"Why wasn't this done earlier?" Sasuke asked.

"Because we don't know if this person can move into the netherworlds or not. Because we don't know their true intentions. Because I didn't want to cause a panic. Because our presence on Earth keeps the place neutral between Angels and Demons. Shall I continue or are you starting to get the bigger picture?" Tsunade said with much irritation in her voice and demeanour. "Now because of all this the netherworlds are going to be jam packed." Then glanced over her should at the rosette girl. "Of all the reapers he _had_ to go for her."

"Because she is _Sakura Haruno_?" Sasuke asked, he frowned at the way everyone around him had tensed up; he didn't like the fact that all of them seemed to be aware of something and he did not. It was almost the scenario of 'he who laughs lasts thinks slowest' and he rarely laughed last, if not, at all. Something was up.

"In a matter of speaking…" Tsunade said as she looked back at him "…it is because she is Sakura Haruno. Have you forgotten what Karin is Sasuke? Have you forgotten that Sakura protected you from her? And have you forgotten how efficient she was in doing so?"

"I have not forgotten" Sasuke growled in irritation as he tried to cool his temper from her chides. "Nor have I dismissed it when we came across the Kyuubi and she defended me."

"Hah, so you met the orange blob of fur down there, how is he by the way? Finally getting a pension?" Naruto chirped, despite the enormity of the situation.

"What did you do to him to get him pissed off by the way?" Sasuke asked "Because when I was down there he really seemed to have this murderous intent when your _name_ was mention."

Naruto grinned as wickedly as the demon fox. "What can I say? He can't handle a… joke."

Tsunade rolled her eyes as Sasuke shook his head in disbelief before he looked back at the boss of Limbo with serious intent. "I know Sakura is a very powerful girl and it seems that whenever her name is mentioned people are immediately on guard."

"She hasn't told you?" Naruto asked.

"Told me what?" Sasuke asked.

"You'll have to ask her yourself" a new voice said. They all turned to see a blond girl carrying a brown satchel bag on her left side. "She's very sensitive about that topic so I wouldn't 'pounce' on her about it, I'd wait for her if I were you."

"Ino, I thought I told you to go home." Tsunade said.

"I did and I brought some spare clothes, the holy grenade she used destroyed most of her coat." Ino said.

"SHE USED A WHAT!" Tsunade yelled along with Naruto and Kakashi, Sasuke having no clue on what it was stayed silent.

"…so I've bought her one of my spares" Ino finished without flinching, gesturing to the bag on her side.

"Go back to the part that she used a _holy_ _grenade_" Tsunade said.

"Can't you sense its essence?" Ino asked. "I can still sense some of it now but very faintly."

"I thought Sakura was exaggerating about your abilities." Kakashi said. "Are you really that sensitive to all essences?"

"Why'd you think Sakura was always partnered with me when we first started? We balanced each other out" Ino said.

"I thought it was you just wanted do your nails while Sakura did the work" Naruto said, crossing his arms.

"HEY! THAT WAS _ONE_ TIME ONLY!" Ino shouted.

Sasuke stared at the blonde girl then glanced at the other blondes, coming to the conclusion that either Sakura attracted loud friends or all blondes in this establishment like to shout. The latte was then proven to an extent as the blonde girl and blonde boy began to argue loudly before the blonde woman then shouted at them to be quiet.

"Anyone want to explain what a holy grenade is?"

"You don't know what it is?" Ino asked.

"He's a newbie here" Naruto explained.

"Oh, so you must be the womaniser Sakura dragged to Tsunade's office the other day" Ino grinned and took a long appreciative look over Sasuke. "I can see why" then shrugged as she continued "Pity I can't stand men that like to play with a woman's heart."

Sasuke rolled his eyes before looking towards the others, quite bored of being called such things, and asked "Can anyone else explain what a holy grenade is?"

Ignoring Ino's shocked face Kakashi answered. "It's basically like the grenades humans use, same fundamentals: pull the pin out, throw, five seconds later boom. Except it's meant to destroy unholy creatures aka Demons, no humans are harmed in the explosion." Then sighed as he looked towards Sakura's door "However, if a reaper is not 100% good like an Angel they can get some serious problems if they accidently windup in the blast. It's one of the reasons why only Angels carry them. How Sakura got a hold of one is beyond me."

"Neh, probably was a present from her father." Naruto said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully with his forefinger on his right hand. "Dad said he was always the type to collect dangerous items and he does seem to have a soft spot for Sakura."

"Don't let him catch you saying that Naruto" Tsunade softly in mirth before she glanced at Kakashi. "Which reminds me, I will have to notify him or if he already knows reassure him she is okay. Go to the sight and see if you can find any clues." She then looked towards Ino. "Ino, go and find Shizune and help her to calm the rest of the employee, once done I want you to see me at my office tomorrow."

"Who'll watch over Sakura?" Ino asked.

"I will." Sasuke said, paying no attention to their demeanour he continued "It's the least I can do for her."

"I'm not leaving you with her." Ino growled.

"It's not your decision" Sasuke pointed out with a dry look.

"As much as I hate to say this he'll have to do." Tsunade reluctantly said. "I rather not have him running around human world just when there's a panic going on." She then turned to the spiky blonde man. "Naruto, you will accompany Kakashi." With a final look to all before teleported to her office she grunted "Move out."

Ino narrowed her eyes at Sasuke before she shoved the satchel bag into his arms and then headed off in a huff. Sasuke gripped the bag in amusement, it was not the first time he witnessed an act like this. But it was the fact that he'd seen it so many times that he wanted to laugh at how ineffective it was to make him feel bad. He glanced at Naruto with a look but the blonde man was just as amused despite shaking his head from the silliness of it.

"Making friends wherever you go, don't cha?" Naruto said sarcastically to the human reaper.

"Hn" Sasuke said before he opened Sakura's door and closed it behind him when he walked through.

* * *

Emerald eyes flicked opened to stare up at a crystal white ceiling that glowed softly. Blinking slowly Sakura glanced around her surroundings and after picking out certain objects from her sight she deduced she was in the infirmary. Again. She wanted to frown; it seemed she was starting to develop a tendency of this that she was not happy about. Then her eyes locked onto the one person that irritated her the most and allowed an annoyed sigh slip from her lips.

"Came to mock?" Sakura grunted as she sat up and cringed at how stiff her back was, Deidara must have gave her something to stop her moving about "Ah cripes."

"How are you feeling?" Sasuke asked quietly.

_**Shitty, pissed and nothing to kill. How do you think I feel?**_

Sakura wanted to snort at Hakumei's sudden wit of the situation. "I'm fine, just need to give my muscles a bit of a stretch" Sakura said and looked down at the hospital gown she was wearing with a frowned. "Ah crap, does the universe want me out of my clothes?" then shot a pointed finger at him when she looked in the instant Sasuke opened his mouth to speak. "Don't _even_ say it".

Sasuke smirked at her "I was only going to say Ino brought you some spare clothes as the remnants of the holy grenade blast seemed to have burnt away some of your own."

"Oh" was what Sakura could come up with at that moment.

_Well…that's odd._

_**Hospital gowns, not the most flattering of garments are they?**_

…_Shut up._

Then the rest of her brain seemed to have caught what Sasuke had just said to her. She had nasty feeling she was going to be in trouble later on. "How did you know I used a holy grenade?" Sakura asked, not too sure if she should be cringing or not but kept her face neutral.

"Ino" Sasuke answered.

"Oh. Right" Sakura said, the urge to cringe grew, and she could only imagine what else the girl said "Um, anything else?"

"Apparently you blabbering god knows about what." Sasuke said, as he shifted in his seat to get a little more comfortable while his became passive. "Do you want to explain why you used such a weapon to me so I can tell Tsunade and you could rest or shall I get her so you can tell her instead?"

Sakura winced at the thought of both actions. "I rather pretend I was unconscious."

He raised an eyebrow at her and leaned closer to the girl, as if studying her at a nearer distance would help somehow.

"I rather you didn't. I still don't know as much but whoever had tried to hurt you must have been powerful" Sasuke said, his cool gaze never wavered. "From what I hear you're a tough girl." He then smirked. "Or so Naruto and Deidara keep on telling me."

"Gosh, I thought hanging around me would have given you a hint or something." Sakura drawled, she shifted her back again and felt the ache in her bones. "How long was I out for?"

"About an hour, Deidara and Tsunade checked you over. I'm to watch you."

"Tsunade-_sama_, remember? She's your boss."

"Technically I'm not employed here."

Sakura frowned at him, her patience thinning by the minute. What is with this human? Always trying to irritate her and always damn right succeeding. It was almost infuriating at how skilful he was in that department.

_**Wonder what department he's also skilful in too.**_

_Shut. UP!_

"You are an apprentice of Kakashi who's employed here meaning you are as well." Sakura grunted.

"Hn"

"Where's the spare clothes Ino bought me?"

"You sure you want to get up now?" Sasuke asked with concern.

Sakura rolled her eyes while she threw her blankets to the side of the bed and swung her feet over to lay them against the cool surface of the floor. It caused Sasuke to stand up, almost afraid that she would fall any moment when she stood.

"I heal fast." Sakura said and stretched her arms, hearing a few snapping sounds as she shifted the bones and joints. "Like I said, I just need to stretch" and stretched her hand out towards Sasuke. "Clothes?"

Sasuke reluctantly handed Ino's satchel bag that contained the spare clothes to Sakura. "I would prefer that you would rest."

"Hey, I may be named after a blossom but I'm hardly delicate." Sakura said and made a swirl gesture with her finger. "Turn around and no peeking."

Sasuke gave her a look that she knew she was spoiling his fun but he did as he was told. He would not be stupid to piss the girl off if he turned to look, that was the Dobe's corner.

"So…what exactly happened?" the human reaper asked.

"I was going home, creepy guy came out, tried to attack me and I won" Sakura said with a clipped voice as she quickly changed out of the hospital gown and into the spare clothes.

"You won?"

"Things like him don't survive a Holy Blast. They just…don't"

"Things like him?"

"Not demon, but certainly of that calibre"

"Was he by chance the reapernapper?"

Sakura paused to think about it while finishing buttoning her trousers, then continued "Possibly."

"And are you sure you got him?"

"Either way: he's dead." She growled.

"Hn, well that's a cheerful thought"

_**Believe me it is, **_Hakumei growled whilea distinct sound of cracking knuckles that could be heard inside Sakura's mind, _**I think we might have to ask Karin to burrow her infamous Catherine Wheel. She owes us this just this once, big time.**_

_Rain check._

"You can turn around now" Sakura said as she padded her way to her shoes she spotted earlier on, ignoring Sasuke's watchful eyes when he turned right back around.

"I'm just concerned about this; if he is still alive then he would come after you."

"Let him." She looked at him sharply and grabbed her shoes off the floor before making her way back to the bed and sat down upon it. Sakura then began to pull them on one at a time with the right shoe being the first. Her eyes lingered on Sasuke for moment then soften slightly at the worry in his eyes. "Sorry, I just don't like it when I'm being targeted. I want a peaceful life like I had before."

"Before?"

"It's complicated."

"Before you met me?"

Sakura smiled softly at what he was implying and shook her head in the negative "Nothing to do with you, though you're still a pain in the butt."

"Always a pleasure" Sasuke smirked.

* * *

"Are you sure we are going the right way Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as they head down yet another street.

Kakashi took a quick glance around and allowed his senses to reach out to see if he could find what they were looking for. "We're now closer to Sakura's home so we should see the starting point of the–"

"OH MY GOD MY CAR! WHAT THE FUCK?" someone yelled in hysterics.

"—fight that took place" Kakashi finished, glancing into the direction where the shout came from. He then glanced at Naruto for a second before the both ran hurriedly that way till rounded a street corner to see a very dented car that was surrounded by the neighbours. "How much are you willing to bet that's Sakura's handy work?"

"Millions" Naruto grunted and rubbed Sakura's favourite hitting spot on his head. "I know how devastating that right hook is." While they assessed the damage the neighbours that gathered round the car couldn't help but talk loudly.

"Woah, Harry what happen to your car?"

"Dude, it looks like an elephant landed on it."

"Poor Betsy"

"OH GODS, WHY? MY BEAUTIFUL CAR!"

"There there man."

"WHY WHY!"

It was at that moment that Naruto glanced up at the wall behind him. "Kakashi-sensei, it seems they went up to the roof" Naruto said to then look over to find Kakashi was no longer standing there. He glanced back up to see parts of his ex-sensei's coat disappearing behind the roof. "Show off." He muttered before he jumped up onto the roof, unlike the method of the silver haired reaper use of teleportation.

"Hmm, seems she must have knocked him into the car and the fight must led up to here and…Naruto what Demon can slice through metal?" Kakashi said, noticing the large hole up ahead with several scratch that seemed to have torn into the metal roof like a hot knife with butter.

"Umm…" Naruto began, trying to think of the demon or even _a _demon that was capable of that.

"Harry, let it out man"

"WHYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"Alright stop letting it out now, you're embarrassing me Dude"

"BUT MY _CAAAARRR_!"

"…I'm not too sure. The First Satan could, I heard his nails were so sharp that they could rip a hole between dimensions." Naruto finally said as he walked up to the torn metal to the crouch down to have a closer look at it. His face was full of fascination and grim thoughts.

"The Original Satan can't leave Hell though, take another whack at it." Kakashi said.

"Possibly a demon with pyromantic abilities?"

"The lacerations against the metal say it was sliced not melted or even heated to begin with, try again."

"Then aside from the fact that most demons hate temperatures cooler than Hell, it's not demonic as far as I know."

"Exactly"

"What?"

"We're not dealing with something demonic. However look at the markings on that building" Kakashi said as he gestured to a building about one hundred and twenty metres away from them "It has the qualities of something I haven't seen in a very long time."

Naruto gawked. "Holy shit, that bastard jumped that?"

"Sakura must have surfed over there to get away."

"Guess we're now heading in that direction."

"Yep."

"Okay, just hang on a sec," Naruto said as he pulled out a bag from his pocket when he snapped a piece of metal off and placed into the bag. "Seems our reapernapper not only could cut metal but metal can cut him too"

"What have you got?" Kakashi asked as he looked into the clear bag, noticing the black liquid against the sharp contours.

"Blood."

* * *

A dark aura surrounded Tsunade as she placed the phone down on the receiver. She really needed a drink after the conversation she had with Sakura's Father. The head huncho of Limbo opened a draw from her desk and pulled out a bottle of sake onto the desk. Before closing the draw once again and opening the bottle to take a gulp of the magical alcohol. Sakura's Father was certainly a man that would drive anyone to drink. He had to be one of the most brutal and arrogant male she had the displeasure of talking to, and most probably always will be. Just as she was about to take another swig of the glorious sake Sakura entered her office, almost forcefully.

"You're up earlier than I expected." Tsunade said in surprise as she placed the bottle down on her sturdy desk, noticing Sasuke to be outside before the door closed behind Sakura, shutting him out. "Deidara gave you a shot behind my back or something?"

"The being that has been taking reapers is a hell-spawn, I'm not too sure what it is but I can detect it was evil enough to be from it." Sakura said in a serious tone, going straight to the point. "And if it is still alive I volunteer to kill it."

Tsunade blinked, surprised yet again, before she leaned back into her chair and placed her finger tips together to create a triangle with her hands. "This is a first, usually you want avoid killing."

"That thing tried to _collect_ me" Sakura growled. "Neither my roommate or I feel any compassion to those who treats myself like a collector's piece."

_**Hear hear!**_

"I see" Tsunade said, her eyelids dropped as she looked at Sakura warily. "Sounds like more like a _reminder_ to me"

Sakura frowned in annoyance. "I can guarantee that _this_ is a completely different situation."

"How so?"

"He wasn't exactly subtle"

"Either way, you are not to pursue this…_thing_ before you cool off."

"Why the _Hell_ not?"

"You need to be level headed here, or have you forgotten how impulsive you become when angered?"

Both turned to look over when the door suddenly opened to reveal Shizune walking in with a bottle of sake, principles momentarily forgotten as she took a swig of it. The raven haired woman glanced at the both of them before closing the door behind her. "Am I interrupting?"

"Not at all" Tsunade said and eyed the sake bottle in Shizune's hand. "I presume that all is calm again."

"Yes, but for a bunch of reapers I never knew they could become so spineless with one fight." Shizune said and glanced at Sakura. "Aren't you supposed to be resting?"

"My healing abilities work faster when I'm unconscious" Sakura grunted.

"Well, anyway, everything back to normal, well uh, normal as it can be. They are still on edge." Shizune said. "I also have a report from several places in the netherworlds that reapers are rushing to buy homes there. This had been going on before but not at this degree, there are even those taking on more than one room mate just to be safe."

"Damn it" Tsunade hissed under breath.

"The balance on Earth is going to be felt." Shizune said.

"Is it just reapers that are heading into the netherworlds?" Tsunade asked.

"Seems to be, Sorters and Assigners are a little more willing to stay on Earth."

"Hopefully it would not be that much of a dramatic shift." Tsunade said and looked at Sakura, the rosette reaper was patiently waiting for her. "Sakura, you will stay with Naruto—"

"WHAT!" Sakura screeched in dismay.

"—just for tonight" Tsunade continued.

"Why?" Sakura growled.

"I know what you will do once you return home" Tsunade then glanced at Shizune. "Please inform Sasuke that he is to take Sakura straight to Naruto's home in the netherworld and may only stop by at Sakura's home on Earth for necessities. She must not be left alone."

Shizune bowed and exited the room. Sakura stared at the Boss of Limbo with much control as she possibly could muster that moment. She hated that her surrogate mother was right about this but she understood that it was for the best. However, it did not stop her anger, along with Hakumei's, from wanting to rear it's terrifying head and snap and snarl till she had her way.

"Sakura, my answer is still no" Tsunade said calmly but with much warning to the girl as to not try her patience when she saw a distinct look upon the rosette reaper. "I command you as your Boss and Supervisor of Limbo to obey my order. You will not pursue this Hellspawn till _I_ say you can. Disobey and you will be on guard duty in Hell for a _month_."

"You can not treat me this way!" Sakura yelled.

"I will treat you the way I see fit to." Tsunade said calmly.

"I can take care of myself! Why can't you see that?"

"Do as you are told for once you spoilt brat!" Tsunade snapped, her voice raised but still below a shouting range. "I raised you to be better than this! Tonight I nearly lost you to an enemy I have no understanding of! Can you not see that I want to protect you?"

"It's been a very long time since you protected me!" Sakura snapped back. "I know you want to see me well but _one_ incident and I'm _grounded_!"

"It wasn't _just_ an incident Sakura" Tsunade pointed out. "You used a Holy grenade, on Earth, in a middle of a fight. You were then out of your mind when you arrived in Limbo, looking very crispy and scaring the rest of employees here."

"Which would not have happened if you—"

"If I _what_, Sakura?" Tsunade growled lowly, her eyes narrowed.

"If you stop putting these damn restrictions on me" Sakura hissed.

"I put those restrictions on you for the safety of everyone in Limbo. It is because of those restrictions that you are able to work here otherwise the elders would have sent you straight to your father." Tsunade said under a forceful calm voice. "I love you and I would do anything to keep you safe. Now DO as I say!"

"Yes Tsunade-Okaasan" Sakura grunted.

"Good. From now on you and your team will be solely working on this. I will be assigning reapers to live in the Training rooms to make up the time that is lost until I am absolutely sure that will be no further kidnapping of reapers. You are dismissed."

Gritting her teeth Sakura turned from her spot and walked to Tsunade's office door. She opened it almost viscously before she walked through and shut it behind her with such force she had a satisfying feeling that some of the objects in the office had fallen from their respective shelves. Calming a bit at the notion she then saw Sasuke standing by Shizune's empty desk.

"Shizune has informed me that you shall be staying at Naruto's as well and that I am take you there." Sasuke said.

"Yeah." Sakura grunted.

"You don't sound happy about it."

"Naruto snores loudly and I never did like the Netherworlds."

"Hn. You can always sleep in my home instead."

Sakura frowned slightly at that. "But that would be against orders."

"Like you said Naruto snores loudly."

"You sneak back to your home?"

"Wouldn't you?"

"…Yes, but you—"

"Look, I won't say anything if you won't say anything. Besides, I'll watch your back. It's not like this reapernapper is going to sense me coming."

Sakura bit her lip in thought and frowned when she came to a decision. "If you try anything while I sleep, I'll break every part that you touched me with."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"You and I both know that's a lie."

Sasuke chuckled at that and leaned a little closer till they were almost nose to nose. "Sakura, don't you trust me?" he asked softly with that infamous one-sided sexy smirk of his.

"I do Sasuke" Sakura said with a sarcastic smile. "But not the devil in you."

* * *

**Long time for an update huh? Um. Yeah. Sorry. Life got in the way again, but I'll try to be better next time. I hope.**

**Big shout out tooooooooooooooooooooo**: _Diamondreamer, LaughsRFun, Akatsuki Sakura Uchiha, sandwich-chan, nightwish635, Mizz Hime-Sama, tsuchiya-sama, C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only, JaJa-Princess, Lady Rini, gemaima11, MichiiHaru-Chan, xxjayjayxx, Neko-Graphic, Reignashii, cowgirl137, ShanaLCrowley, delirious0ne, 7HeartAndSoul7, waterblossemangel13, rainbow spell _**and finally** _DarkAngelLida_. **You guys…just wow, thank you sooooooooooo much! And if I have forgotten anyone please accept my apologies and write you in.**

**Right I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, if anyone's got a question though please have an account on here so I can reply to you properly as I don't want to spoil or annoy anyone. And, uh, um, *tries to smile as sweetly as possible* please review? **


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: If you mean a delicious desert, then of course.**

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**They don't know those things I know  
Who they are and what they'll be  
They don't see the things I see**

~Cinephile

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**.**

It had been a long day for Naruto, after seeing Kakashi off to the Labs safely he had teleported straight to the Netherworld. From a human perspective, the Netherworld it was distorted, buildings were curved, slim, twisted peculiarly in odd angles and strange looking, and as the laws of physics didn't mean a thing here as people would cross a bridge on it's underside. The Netherworld, in short, could also be described as an Escher painting but without the black and white, just a circus full of colours. The sky was green during the daytime and swirls of dark cloudy pinks at night time, the street lamps were lit with an electric blue flame. It was also a haven for those who worked in Limbo as he could see the place was very busy metropolis at the moment.

That was until he reached his street and noticed it was a little quieter than the rest of the area, he also couldn't help but notice the stares at him. Now he was used to seeing people stare at him, because of his famous father and all, but these stares did not hold admiration their eyes but curiosity and agitation. The only time he ever saw those looks was when—

_Sakura-chan__'__s __here._ He immediately concluded, and rushed down the street his apartment building. _What __is __she __doing __up __so__s oon?_

When finally he reached his apartment he could hear both Sasuke and Sakura talking inside. He opened the door in a hurry and saw Sakura rubbing the sides of her forehead. Both Sasuke and Sakura were standing between the living area and the kitchen area.

"Sakura-chan! What are you doing out the infirmary?" Naruto yelled.

"Naruto, keep it down!" Sakura growled, "My head's hurting here."

"Okay, sorry, but why?" Naruto said.

"Heal fast when unconscious, remember?" Sakura said.

Naruto's eyebrows shot up into his hairline from her words before he gingerly relaxed, albeit still a little wary about the whole thing. "Oh, okay then," Naruto said, his voice giving away how unconvinced he was. "But why are you here and not at home resting?"

"Tsunade wants her to sleep here for the night, so that every reaper in the vicinity will sense that she is okay." Sasuke answered for her, his concerned eyes never leaving her form.

"Yeah meanwhile, I'm getting a headache from the backlash of it" Sakura said and looked at Naruto pitifully, "Asprin?"

"Bathroom mirror cupboard, second shelf" Naruto answered.

They both watched the rosette get up and head straight to the bathroom, on her quest for the pain killers. Once she was out of sight Sasuke glanced back at Naruto with a curious look.

"Backlash?" Sasuke asked, not quite understanding it.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan can sense emotions," Naruto explained, "Not yours or mine, because we're her friends, but those who generally don't want her around or alive. It's a self preservation thing I think. She can block it out but here that power in amplified to the max."

"Is that why she hates it here?" Sasuke asked.

"Not entirely. She used to live here. In fact, down the hall from me." Naruto said, pointing to which side of the building her old apartment was. "Before, anyone that would meet her would instantly like her. She was everyone's sweetheart. She was happy." Naruto smiled softly at the memory before it dropped as a more horrible one surfaced. "Then shit hit the fan and she had to move cause no matter how hard she fucking tried all these bastards think that she should—"

"Naruto, you've ran out." Sakura said as she came back into the room, holding the empty bottle momentarily before chucking it into the nearby bin.

She never saw the face changed into his more cheerful one, or appeared to have heard the conversation.

"Why don't you get Springtime to block them out?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, summoning my weapon in a place where they are already scared of me, that'll help." Sakura drawled.

"Hey, it worked before." Naruto shrugged.

"And I received a fine afterwards." Sakura said.

"After _repeated_ use" Naruto pointed out. "You're only going to be using it just for tonight and then you can go home tomorrow."

"I'm already in enough trouble for using a holy grenade as it is" Sakura grunted.

"That leads me to my question, why did you use it?" Naruto asked.

"It was the guy who kidnapping all the missing reapers. I just got out of Hell, I was heading home and I was exhausted." Sakura said "He nearly overpowered me. If I hadn't used the Holy Grenade I wouldn't be here speaking to you."

"Bastard must have sensed your low energy" Naruto said and thought for a moment. "Actually now that I think about it, most of the kidnappings were when the reapers had just got off the clock."

"Naruto, I don't think he could sense my energy level." Sakura said. "He went easy on me first before upped his game continuously until he let aura go…" her stomach heaved at the memory of the reaper kidnapper aura. "…erugh, just the thought of that aura is making me sick."

"What was it like?" Naruto asked.

"Like fighting in an invested sewage backflow full of rotting corpses," Sakura said.

"Nice" Sasuke sarcastically grunted while Naruto pulled a face.

"He suppressed it first but I could smell him, and after spending so much time in Hell I know he's a not a demon." Sakura said. "He's a Hellspawn."

"Hellspawn?" Sasuke said.

"That's impossible, no Hellspawn gets passed me" Naruto said with conviction. "Not without me knowing it."

"But you are not always down there Naruto and who's to say that thing wasn't getting out by other means?" Sakura said.

"The Ring Masters would never break the Original Satan's Law." Naruto said. "Not if they want ultimate pain for a thousand years."

"It's not the Ring Masters" Sakura said. "I would have sensed their demonic signature the moment they stepped on Earth and it's not any of their minions either. But somehow this bastard is or was getting through to Earth and I have a feeling it might have hitchhiked on a teleporting demons stream and kept it open." And then pulled a face. "Ah crap, I'm going to have to talk to Karin."

"What's a Hellspawn?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto and Sakura glanced at Sasuke in surprise before remembering he was still new to this world.

"It's a 'unique' creature from Hell. Once every twenty-five years a pit of Hellfire spews out a species of creatures, the demons kill them off in fear the new species would take over. Only one or two survives and that's only because they were smart enough to make a run for it." Sakura explained. "They can range from the most cataclysmic monster of all time to something humanoid that eats souls."

They all froze at Sakura's final words and stared at one another as they shared one awful thought.

"Or eats _reapers_ perhaps?" Sasuke said.

A look of disgust and horror crossed their faces when those words were uttered.

"That would explain why there is nothing left." Naruto said "Or ever found, and Kakashi-sensei did mention the only thing useful about reapers is the blood, the flesh is useless in rituals. But nothing in cookery."

"I was going to be eaten" Sakura nearly shrieked. "I was going to be an h'orderves! How dare that Freddy Krueger wannabe _try_ to make me his dinner!"

"Calm down" Sasuke said. "Besides, I don't think 'Sakura' is on the menu anymore after you gave him quite the indigestion."

Sakura growled as her eyes narrowed into slits "Oh I'm going to give him more than just indigestion if I ever see him again!"

"We both will" Naruto said with a nod, "No one makes Sakura-chan food!"

"Hn." Sasuke grunted in agreement.

The men then watched her face saddens as she thought about the other reapers. "The others really had no chance, didn't they?"

"You never know Sakura-chan, maybe they are still alive. Maybe food isn't what he was after." Naruto said, trying to find the brighter side. "Maybe being trained by Kakashi-sensei is what had saved your life."

"Well, you are right; they weren't trained by Kakashi-sensei" Sakura smiled.

"The porn reader is why you survived?" Sasuke drawled, a little doubtful.

Sakura turned towards Sasuke with a look.

"That 'porn reader' as you so eloquently put it was taught by Minato, Naruto's father, who sealed the last tailed demon in Hell thousands of years ago. Aka The Kyuubi." Sakura explained. "Kakashi was literally taught by _the_ Best and in turn so have we, and currently now you."

"Ah." Sasuke said and glanced at Naruto "So that's why the Kyuubi don't like you."

"Oh no, it's not because of that. He was pissed at my Dad for a long time." Naruto said, as he looked back Sasuke with a smirk so devilish he could been mistaken for the Kyuubi himself. "No, what I did was I shaved off the fur on his lower back and wrote 'I'm not overcompensating, I just love dic—"

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted dismay, interrupting him.

The blonde reaper cracked up laughing, remembering vividly how pissed off the nine tail demon when he woke and found it on his back. It was weeks later that the fur finally grew over the writing and he had no doubt the ink was off but still the nine tails was always angry whenever he saw Naruto.

"So, Sakura and I nearly lost our lives to a psychotic giant fox in Hell because some idiot pulled a stupid prank on it that a simple minded _three_ year old can come up with?" Sasuke said in disgust.

He then found a metallic spatula wielded in a threaten manner in front of his face and a pissed off blonde holding it from behind in a blink of an eye.

"Teme, you take that back it was a marvellous prank."

"Can't take back what's true"

"Guys!" Sakura shouted in irritation, the last of her patience dwindling. "I'm too tired for this crap! Can we please go back to being civilised here?"

On reflex, Naruto shifted away from the rosette reaper, he never liked that tone of her voice, memories of her super monstrous punches to his head reminded him of what she was like when she did lose her temper. But she never got that way without reason. "Sorry Sakura-chan, I know it's been a long night for you." Naruto said, being sympathetic.

"No, I'm sorry Naruto, sensing too many agitated people is making me feel on edge" Sakura said, pinching the bridge of her nose to calm her mind and shut others out. "So where's Kakashi-sensei? Sasuke told me that you guys went to see my neighbourhood to find clues about this Hellspawn."

"He went to Deidara's Labs in Limbo, we found some of its blood on the scene and so we're having it analysed." Naruto said. "See if we can find a signature and locate it if it's still alive or find a trail that'll lead to the missing reapers if they are still alive."

"That thing could bleed?" Sakura said with a concern.

"Seems it can, why?" Naruto asked.

"Better call the Labs and tell them to be careful, you don't know what properties that blood has." Sakura said.

"I'm sure they will be, Kakashi-sensei always makes sure that anything that is handled by him is treated with up most care." Naruto smiled reassuringly, he then pointed to the TV "So, up for a movie? I'm sure you're allowed to at least unwind before going to bed. You can have Sasuke-teme's bed."

"I don't mind sharing" Sasuke smirked.

Sakura, who was used to Sasuke annoying flirty side, rolled her eyes, while Naruto's face dropped in disgust and uttered. "On second thought, you can have my bed. The bedroom door has a lock on it."

"Thanks Naruto, but I think I'll take the couch." Sakura said, "Don't know what infestation you've got there lurking in your room."

"Hey look at how tidy this apartment is; it's all nice and sparkly clean!" Naruto pointed out. "And it reflects how my room is, thank you very much!"

"Yeah, cause of 'neat freak' over here" Sakura said, gestured at Sasuke. "Is the one cleaning it"

"Actually, to be fair on the Dobe, I haven't been cleaning and nor have I seen a single cleaner come to his home." Sasuke said, causing Sakura to look at him in surprise. "He's been doing it himself."

It was in that moment did Sakura turned back to Naruto and gave him a one sided smirk, a knowing look. "Awe Naruto, and here I thought you liked your mess, your 'work of art' as you like to call it" and took a long deep breath. "And on a _regular_ basis, my-my have _you_been a busy boy."

"Sakura-chan, don't tell anyone." Naruto said, suddenly sweating buckets when he caught on to what she was saying.

"Calm down Naruto, I'm sure your mother would approve of this change of pace" Sakura said "Now about that movie…"

* * *

It had to be around midnight in Limbo while Tsunade finally had the time to relax. A bottle of sake in one hand and many other empty ones on her desk, and she was still fricken sober. She released a deep breath before taking another swig of the bottled contents, emptying it, and placed it on the desk… to then route around for another bottle in her desk draws.

Never in her immortal life did she ever think that when she took up this job she'd be this stressed out of her mind. Even when she raised Sakura, that was a piece of cake compared to what she'd been through today, and that girl was very stubborn as a child, putting it mildly. The phone call to her father didn't help the situation, not that a phone call to the pain in butt ever would but certainly made her day more troublesome than it was worth.

"Ah-hah!" Tsunade cheered happily once she located a full bottle of sake to drown her irritation and pulled it out of the draw.

Only to frown when she noticed an onyx coloured book that the bottle had been resting on. It may have been an old book but it was still in pristine condition. A delicate eyebrow rose at the sight of it. The ancient text on the front read 'The Order of Limbo', an old book that generally told you how to run Limbo. It had been given to her by the Shinigami. The Death God.

_He__'__d __probably __be __royally __pissed __if __he __saw __how __things __are __going __here, _she thought with distain before closing the draw again.

There was a knock on the door, usually Shizune would buzz to tell her who it was but Tsunade gave her the rest of the day off, considering Shizune went straight to 'happy hour' from today. She waved her hand and was surprised to see Kakashi there, alone.

"Where's Naruto?" Tsunade asked.

"Gone home Tsunade-sama." Kakashi said as he entered her office.

She waved her hand again to close the door and then wave vertically up so a seat could appear out of the floor. Kakashi immediately took the seat and sat down with his legs crossed and hands relaxed in his pockets. He ignored the many sake bottles on her desk, including the one that was in her hand. He knew it had been a rough day for her.

"And left you alone?"

"Only when we reached the Labs, then he went home"

She leaned forward, her hands clasped together. "The Labs, you found something?"

"Blood. His."

He watched as her head cocked to the side with slight trepidation. "You sure?"

"Black Blood." Kakashi said. "Not many creatures have that."

"Sakura says he's a Hellspawn" Tsunade said.

"Not many of those either." He commented with a frown before his face became neutral again. "But Lab technician knows not to play around with it. Black Blood is always dangerous to handle."

"Hmph, I should hope they do know." Tsunade said and offered him a bottle "Drink?"

He reached out and took the bottle from her hands, opening it, before taking a good gulp of the stuff before handing it back to her. It had been a long day for him too. Finding leads, analysing information they gathered, trying to ignore much of Naruto's yammering about meaningless stuff and then rushing to the infirmary when he got the phone call about Sakura.

"Thanks." He replied, as he licked the last of the sake essence off his lips. "How's Sakura doing?"

"She's healed up and at Naruto's place as we speak" Tsunade replied, relaxing back into her chair.

"That's fast." Kakashi said, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Apparently she heals quicker when unconscious" Tsunade said and sighed heavily. "I fear for her future."

"It hasn't happened yet" Kakashi said.

"You haven't seen anything?" Tsunade asked, with a little hope in voice.

"If anything, her roommate is a blessing in disguise." Kakashi said.

"Urgh, I really wish that thing would shrivel up and die. I can sense it every time Sakura gets a little reckless, how it likes to influence her." Tsunade said and took a mouthful of sake before continuing after a little sigh of refreshment. "But I guess you're right, better that than the other option. Did you find anything else at the sight?"

"It seems to me that our assailant wasn't prepared for Sakura's skills at first, which is probably why when it started on the street it ended up on the roof." Kakashi said.

"Number one rule of fighting; never let yourself be cornered" Tsunade muttered to herself. "Go on."

"I believe that he also has incredibly sharp claws that can be extended judging from the many scratch marks on the scene."

"You were able to trail their movements"

"Yes, and found the last known place our assailant was before he disappeared."

"You couldn't find any pieces of him?"

"Holy grenades tend to obliterate every last piece of evil"

"But it was fast, you sure you couldn't find any trace of it?"

"Either it was able to teleport before the explosion, which is highly unlikely due to the speed they must have been going at and thus wouldn't be aware of an incoming holy grenade or it had been killed."

"Kakashi, this may sound ridiculous but I want to make sure that this threat is _completely_ gone. We don't know if he had been doing this alone or working in a group."

"Not ridiculous, I too would do everything in my power to make sure the threat has gone." He tilted his head to the side. "Especially for a precious person."

She grunted. "Does that make me an over protective mother?"

"I think you've been the mother that she's always needed, and very lucky to be raised by you."

"You're only saying that because I'm your boss"

"I tell no lies to my boss."

"Is that so? Well then, is it true that you once dance on a table, drunkenly mind you, to get a certain lady's attention?"

Kakashi twitched. "I'm going to kill Asuma."

* * *

Sleep didn't come to Sakura easily when she rested her head on her pillow. She and Sasuke had managed to get back to the human world once Naruto fell asleep on the couch. He was never one to watch sappy chic-flicks, as they never held his attention for long. The room that Sasuke had allocated for her was a large spacious guest room that she believed none of his family members ever stayed in if the smell had anything to do with it. In fact, it seemed to be a room that was hardly ever used in the first place much to her amusement. The bed was comfortable, the pillows soft and plump, the sheets smelt and felt wonderful against her naked skin. But still she felt restless.

Her eyes snapped open when she realised something.

Sasuke wasn't asleep either.

Was he possibly working late?

_Stupid human._

Grunting in irritation she pushed herself off the bed and stretched her arms, her shoulders made a cracking sound as she did so. She frowned at that, things like that should have been all healed up long before. Internally shaking her head at the thought, she pushed the covers away before pushing herself onto her feet and headed to the door, grabbing a spare shirt out of wardrobe as she went. The rosette reaper managed to button up before she even reached the door and then stop dead still when she felt another presence, specifically at the front door. Her eyes narrowed as she felt Sasuke aura approaching it with caution.

_What idiot would be at the front door this time? Do I even want to know?_

_**Oh for the love of… go investigate already! **_

The pinkette opened the door and closed it behind her as she began her walk down the quiet hallway, summoning Springtime in tanto form as she did so.

_You honestly thought I wouldn't? _

_**You know me, I hate hesitation.**_

_Hesitation allows people to think a little more clearly._

_**Bah! Waste of time. Act now, think later.**_

…_Thank god you're not a role model for teenagers, you'd be a nightmare for parents all around the world._

_**Ha. Ha. I'm in hysterics Bubblegum.**_

She paused at the edge of the wall where the stairs were located right next to it. Listening to the sound of Sasuke's footsteps, it was clear to her he wasn't able to sense her presence. Slowly, she leaned forward and only paused when she could see, just with one eye, the front door. The rosette reaper watched Sasuke striding towards the front door barefooted in a loose white shirt and grey jogging bottoms and opened the door as soon as he reached it.

Sakura frowned.

There at the door was what Sakura would call the pop tart, bubblegum, princess version of Ino. Yes, _Ino_. The blonde woman was slightly shorter than Sakura but it was disguised from the black four inch heels she was wearing. Bronzed coloured eyes, summer tanned skin, very well endowed in the chest area if the hot pink v-neck shaped short dress couldn't spell it out enough for you and a stick thin body.

_**I wanna kill it. Can we kill it?**_

_Can't kill humans._

_**You're a reaper, remember?**_

_I send those to the afterlife, I don't kill._

_**Pansy!** _

"Sasuke, you've been ignoring my calls" she heard the woman spoke, and cringed at the sound.

_**Ear plugs, please, I beg you.**_

_Shut up, trying to listen here._

_**I don't want to listen to shrieking kitties being murdered, unless I'm the one killing them!**_

_SHUT UP!_

"Mina, I have a guest, leave." Sasuke said with his voice was soft but neutral.

"Hmm, never stopped us before" the woman said and walked in anyway.

Sakura watched as Sasuke crossed his arms, finally able to see his face more clearly and was surprised that he was so calm, but a distinct exasperation could be seen in his eyes. She observed how the newcomer paid no interest as she sauntered up to Sasuke with eyes that made Sakura look on in disgust. The woman pressed up against him, her hands touching the front of his hips.

"Don't you want to play with me?" she cooed.

_**She must be great at giving head, who the fuck would want to hear that scream?**_

Sakura's face dropped from the sound of Hakumei's voice. _Is __this __something __that __you __know __that _I _don__'__t __want __to __know?_

_**Awe, little blossom-chan does not know what head is?**_

_You dare tell me and I will go to Deidara and shut you up for a week!_

_**Tch, fine.**_

"Mina, I do not have time for this, leave." Sasuke said, looking more than annoyed now.

"Can't you make a little bit of time for me?" Mina said, and bit her lip enticingly. "I can make it oh _so_ nice."

Sakura tensed at that, realising she could possible have the worse night sleep ever if she didn't act soon. And Sakura hated it when she couldn't shut irritating sounds out when she was trying to sleep. "That's it. No more." Dismissed Springtime in her hand and made a move to intervene.

_**Woah, stop!**_

She did, reluctantly.

_Why? I don't want to hear them two going at it!_

_**Nor do I bubblegum, but you can't go in gun-hoe with an attitude like that. Think, this is Sasuke, why would he have a female guest that is not related to him, here? His home? Where no one would see her?**_

…_Please tell me you are not saying what I think you are saying of what I should do._

_**Well, how else are you going to get rid of the girl without a certain degree of violence that I like so much?**_

* * *

Sasuke was just about to push Mina away from him when he felt someone else pressed up against him from behind. Strong yet very soft delicate arms encircled him till the equally strong yet very soft delicate hands touched his abdomen. He had remained very still when he felt the pressure of someone holding him, especially when he saw Mina immediately backed away from him when _she_ saw the feminine arms.

"Baby, is she an old friend of yours?" came a familiar voice purred from behind him.

He looked over his right shoulder, to see Sakura with seductive emerald eyes and a sinful smile to boot. He caught on quick to her act, if it hadn't been for the situation he was in he would have thought she had lost her marbles. Sakura then glanced over his shoulder and back at Mina, who was now directly glaring at her. Sasuke twisted around so they were face to face, his arms now around her too, trying to ignore how warm she was and keeping his hands in appropriate areas. Their side profile could be seen by Mina, to her great irritation she could see that Sakura seemed to be only in a shirt. His shirt she summarised, something Sasuke took note of as well.

"She was just leaving" Sasuke said

"Oh?" Sakura said, rest her head against Sasuke's chest like a lover would, her face towards Mina. "But it's very late. Shouldn't we let her have a room?" Her eyes looked up and down at Mina's attire. "It's awfully chilly outside for something like that." She then glanced back up at him with a naughty look "Good thing I have _you_ to keep me warm all night long."

"Hn" his smirk equally as provocative, his eyes just glued on her face. Anywhere else on her and he knew he would pay for it later, well as long as she didn't know of course.

"Let me get this straight" Mina said, trying to hide her frustration miserably. "You, of all people, are in a relationship with _her_?" her eyes glaring at Sasuke. "A redheaded tart?"

Sakura should get an Oscar for her performance so far, particularly when Mina called her a 'tart'. She 'looked' surprised to be called a tart when in reality she wanted to lung at the woman and run hot pokers down her gullet. Sasuke, sensing this, quickly pulled Sakura into a 'tighter' hug to stop her going after Mina and, for effect, gave said woman a cold look he mastered over the years from living with his family.

"Do I look like a tart to you honey?" Sakura asked, her voice taking on innocence.

"If you mean a woman that looks like a slut then of course not, the only one I'm seeing is the one that's not in my arms." Sasuke said then added saucily as he looked back Sakura with a dark sexy look. "But if you mean a delicious desert then of course, you are incredibly sweet and…_tasty_."

Acting or not, Sakura couldn't help but swallow at his words, she even felt Hakumei shiver in pleasure from the look alone. No wonder she felt pity for any woman that Sasuke set his eyes on, they just weren't safe from him. Sasuke who had noticed her reaction let his smirk deepened, knowing the effect he was having on her.

Without looking away he purred. "Now Mina, leave, I'm about to have _second__helpings_."

They both heard the blonde shriek in disgust before turning on her heel and slammed the door behind her as she left. The noise brought Sakura back to reality and quickly got out of his hold, thankful that he allowed it. She took a step back from him and crossed her arms. "I've got half a mind to kill you...and the other half agrees." Sakura growled, immediately slipping back into her old defences.

**_No, __I __kind __of __like __to __kill __him _way _after __I __had __my __way __with __him._**

_SHUT UP!_

_**Temper! **_

He rolled his eyes heavenward, as if asking patience. "Do you honestly expect me to arrange a booty call under this house while you're here?" he said as he gestured around his home with both of his hands.

"Who knows with you Sasuke." Sakura said.

"Hn. If you must know, I thought she was the take away I ordered." Sasuke said.

Sakura wanted to scoff. "Why would you be ordering take away at this time of night?"

"I don't know, friend almost getting kidnapped and I'm investigating the whole reapers being kidnapped, I have no idea why I get hungry when I'm working late at night."

There was a knock on the door, Sasuke immediately walked up to the front door and peeped through the peephole. He then opened the door and there to Sakura's surprise was the delivery man. She glanced at the clock on the wall and was even more surprised at the time. During all that, Sasuke pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket, gave it to the delivery man and took the white bags off him. Sakura only looked back at him when the door closed again.

"Hungry?" Sasuke said with a smug look of 'I told you so'.

"No" Sakura grunted. Then her traitorous stomach growled in protest. "…Yes"

Sasuke continued to smirk at her. "Very good, but, uh, you may want to put some trousers on," he said, then his eyes couldn't help but wonder to her legs. "Unless you really want 'second helpings'."

Realising that she forgot she was still half naked in front of him, she blushed heavily and tried to think angry thoughts to keep her mind off it. She then turned towards the stairs and marched up them, making sure the hem of the shirt was pressed down to stop Sasuke from seeing anything more. Of course she didn't have to as Sasuke was too busy laughing at her predicament.

Yeah, there just had to be some deity that liked screwing her over.

* * *

It was a full ten minutes when Sakura reunited with Sasuke in his office, wearing thick, black jogging bottoms under one of her old faded red shirt and a pair of red socks. As if to make sure the statement was clear enough to say 'avert your eyes now, or welcome death'. Sasuke just ignored it with smirk that pretty much wanted to burst into laughter again. She walked towards the couch opposite to his with the coffee table in between them and the take away placed on top. The white bags were full of containers with such delicacies at the brim, which weighed the coffee table down so much the legs nearly caved at such pressure.

"Knock it off deadboy" Sakura growled and grabbed a container of sweet and sour pork out of one of the bags.

"But Sakura, I never knew blushing pink was your colour." Sasuke teased.

She stared at him with a blank look but Sasuke couldn't help but notice the sweet and sour pork container in her grasp began to produce more steam than usual. That then started to bubble mysteriously.

"I said. Knock. It. Off" Sakura growled, pronouncing each word clearly with a hard edge.

"You know, you have the same problem as my brother." Sasuke said, clearly ignoring the ominous aura around her. "You get incredibly cantankerous when hungry."

Her eyes narrowed at him. "I do not get grouchy when I'm—" she paused when she looked down at the food container in her hand and rolled her eyes in irritation in realisation "Never mind."

She reached out and grabbed a fork to dig into her now _piping__hot_ food, never once burning her tongue due to her extreme durability of temperatures in Hell. After a few bites her speed increased as she ate her food, becoming very aware that Sasuke had been right as she felt herself calm down. Little did Sakura know Sasuke had the incentive to order enough for two as he felt she was awake too while he had been working away in his office.

"This very good" Sakura said, after a couple more mouthfuls of sweetened pork. "Where did you get it from?"

"Down town" Sasuke replied grabbing his own container of food, chicken chow mein and began to eat.

Sakura blanched at him. "It's quarter pass four in the morning though!"

"A lot of wealthy people live around here, so there's always someone in the apartment above the restaurant. You pay extra for the inconvenience but it's worth it." Sasuke explained.

"One _human_ cooked all of this?"

Sasuke chuckled at her, amused at her naïveté. "No, a _bunch_ of chefs, once he realised who I was and how much I ordered, he woke the rest of his colleagues up and they went to business."

"Gosh" Sakura murmured and looked down at her food. "I guess there is an upside of having a lot of money."

"Hn."

She then asked something that had been bugging her since she came down stairs again. "Do you always get late night visitors?"

"My security system is very good, so no."

"Mina, seemed to be able to get in."

"She must have slipped in the same time the delivery guy came through, only she took the shortcut."

"Shortcut?"

"Straight through the flowerbed and possibly the new grass" He sighed, "My grounds keeper is going to have a fit tomorrow."

"What on Earth was she doing hanging around outside for anyway?"

"She must have seen the lights on, because she wouldn't stop calling me. I had to turn the phone off."

"Aren't you just tired of women throwing themselves at you?"

"Those women I try to avoid, more than ever since what had happened with Clarice."

"Ah, lady with the crazy husband shooting at you. What happened to them?"

Sasuke blinked at her; surprised she didn't know as he knew she lived in the human world and would read the newspapers or at least watch the news here. It appeared she didn't. "He's been arrested and sent to jail for attempted murder and she's still married to him."

"You don't seem too thrilled about it"

"The man did not attempt to murder me, he _did_ murder me and the only one that knows that is you."

"Technically, you sort of died in five different ways Sasuke, don't know what exactly killed you but yeah being shot over board by him didn't help." Sakura said and continued after she took another bite. "And I can't exactly take up the witness stand because how am I going to explain why I was there in the first place when I wasn't even listed as either guest or crew member?"

"Hn."

"That leads me to my next question"

"Hn?"

"What is it about you that bring these women back? You practically just drop them once you've had them."

"I can show you if you like." He said with a smirk.

"Broken bones are what you'll get if you try." She sing-song back as she smiled sweetly.

"Then it'll be a mystery to you." Sasuke said with a shrug. "Dumpling?"

"Wha-?" She said, taken aback.

"The dumplings in front of you, are you going to try them?"

She glanced at them momentarily, then back him. "I'll try them later. Thank you for the food."

"You and my brother really do have the same problem." Sasuke said with a small smile and added when he saw her looking confused at him. "You both get very irritable when you haven't eaten for a while, even when you don't realise it at all. It can be a little scary being in the same room him when he's hungry, especially in the morning it's at its worse."

"Hmm, what a pair we'd make." Sakura replied was a sarcastic grin.

Sasuke shuddered visibly on purpose in a jokey manner, something he was unused to but couldn't help it. "Your children would be the death us all."

He knew she knew it was a joke but he saw a strange look that passed her eyes, even if it was there for a second, before it disappeared into a force smile. She glanced back at her food and continued to eat like nothing had passed by and Sasuke wasn't sure if it was okay for her to act like that.

"I don't know. Children that like to keep a full tummy would be beneficial to a parent's 'peace of mind'. Even if their wallets grow empty despite it" Sakura said after finishing her first container and went onto her second.

"Even if it leads to obesity?"

Sakura chuckled silently and shook her head at him. "I was never a fat child and I believe your brother wasn't either, so our metaphorical 'children' wouldn't be. Besides, doesn't he have a fiancé that takes care of him?"

"Yes, but sometimes I don't understand what he sees in her." Sasuke grunted.

She paused in mid bite, looking very sombre that moment. "Love makes you blind" and carried on eating.

"Try stupid." He said as he stabbed his fork into a piece of food.

"You think he's stupid for falling for her?" an eyebrow raised at his statement; nonjudgmental but curious.

"Yes"

She leaned slightly to her right, thinking things through carefully as spoke to him. "Have you asked him why her?"

"Many times and he always give me the same answer" he looked very bothered by it.

"Then perhaps you should ask _her_ instead."

"She doesn't like to stay in the same room with me alone."

Her face dropped at that. "…You didn't 'come on' to her, now did you?"

He gave her a deadpanned look as he grunted "There are many things I like to mess Itachi about with but I'm not suicidal."

"So you would have if it wasn't for her being his girl?"

"She's not my type"

"Is that why you don't understand why Itachi is marrying her?"

"No"

"Then maybe you should just leave it as it is. If your brother wants to marry her then it's his business and no one else's" she said as she relaxed again, hoping he would taking her advice.

He cocked his head. "Hn. Tell that to my parents."

"Are they getting involved?"

"You know when I said Itachi is like a god in my parents, specifically my family's eyes?"

"Um, yeah, I remember, what about it?"

"Well, they want everything perfect for him so they've taken over the wedding plans. My brother and his fiancé wanted it small, somewhere quiet and outside, cause that's how they met apparently. It's now a huge bonanza at this famous cathedral and almost ninety percent of the guest the Bride and Groom don't even know."

"They should elope."

"Elope?"

"Yes, I know I would if my family was that much of control freaks."

"But it would cause a scandal, piss my family off."

"…So? As far as I can see, Itachi has two options: one, go ahead with a wedding that he'll hate and forever have this 'control' over him his family has that his bride will eventually hate herself. Or two, have the wedding he wants with his fiancé and showing her how much he cares just about her. And if you're the one that suggests it to him, not only will you piss your parents off, Itachi may find of new kind of respect for you."

"Do you always try to simplify people's problems?"

"More like a habit when being friends with Naruto and Ino," Sakura smiled "I have to simplify everything for them."

"I'll tell them the next time I see them" Sasuke smiled back.

"You will not, Naruto already knows this and Ino is the type to kill the messenger." She paused for moment as if to contemplate her words. "Actually, yeah go ahead."

Sasuke shook his head at her "Hn".

Sakura smiled at him as she finished her second container and went for the dumplings.

"Oh by the way Sasuke, you tell anyone of the incident of me wearing your blue shirt and I'll—."

"Relax Sakura, this will stay between you and me."

"…Thank you."

* * *

**Hi guys, no I'm not back for good, just dropped this chapter in to show you that, yes, I'm still alive and, no, I haven't abandoned you. However, due to uni and other important stuff in my life I'm very busy girl, I just can't ignore those things just so I can write a chapter. Sorry but Fanfiction is a hobby. **

**Big ****shout ****out ****to:** _meantimegirl**,** Jayayes10**,** SasuSakuKawaii**,** Kaydreams**,** crimson-lust03**,** Kimiko-Kirsty**,** nightwish635**,** tsuchiya-sama**,** DarkAngelRakell**,** .Saku.x**,** delirious0ne**,** Reignashii**,** 7HeartAndSoul7**,** autumn4real**,** MichiiHaru-Chan**,** waterblossemangel13**,** **,** ShanaLCrowley**,** Neko-Graphic**,** falalahlalala**,** purpleflames**,** rainbow spell**,** LadyMartel4000**,** JaJa-Princess**,** Akatsuki Sakura Uchiha**,** Lady Rini**,** C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only**,** LadyPassionofHate**,** gemaima11**, **_**and ****finally** _Mizz Hime-Sama_**! ****You ****guys ****are ****just****…****wow. ****Especially ****those ****have ****infinite ****amount ****of ****patience ****with ****me.**

**Thanks for supporting this story and me so far guys. I'll update when I can. **


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